
mmmmmmm 



a< trtwiwnw<« aa ryff i n iB irriHw a *ffw t ffii wi ^^ ^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
pr: __ 

Shelf ^^..^^"^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMJIRICA. 



Life in tlie Wilds of Ainerica, 

AND 

Wonders OF THE West 



IN AND BEYOND 



THE BOUNDS OF CIVILIZATION. 




To the West, to the West, to the laud of the free, 
Where the mighty Missouri rolls down to the sea, — 
Where a man is a man if he's -willing to toU, ^ 
And the humblest may gather the fruits of the soil. 



BY 1. ^^^INSLO^v ayer, a. m.,m. d. 



PUBLISHED ^Y 

THE CENTRAL PUBLESHING COMPANY, 

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, 

1880. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 188n, by I. Winslow Ayer, in the 
office ol the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 






>^ 



Printed by W. C. Dennis, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
Bound by J. Chilver & Co., Grand Eapids, Mich. 



^ 



PpPFAGi:. 




jITH the map of our country spread out 
^ before us, with all the minutiae of the best 
geographers, with the intricate tracery of 
net-work, marking the hues of railway that 
radiate from large cities and extend to others 
that have attained rank and celebrity — to villages 
that are destined to become great cities in the 
promising future, it seems easy enough to explore 
the extensive area of milhons of acres we proudly 
call our own; but with all the facilities of travel, 
and the many tempting inducements to avail our- 
selves of them, there are but few comparatively, 
who acquire a thorough knowledge of the country 
by personal exploration. 

We visit the Old World, climb the Alps and the 
Pyrenees, dehght in the rose-gardens of France, 
dream under the soft skies of Italy, wander in 
orange-groves and amid the clustering vines of 
Mediterranean Isles, discourse of charming Lake 
Como, of the beauty of the Rhine and of other 
natural features of the continent from the Irish 
Channel to the Bay of Naples, enraptured with 
views that become heart pictures, to which memory 
oft fondly turns to gaze upon, with ever fresh de- 
hght, and we return to the land of our birth the 



6 PREFACE. 

wiser for the tour ; but strange enough, we hve the 
years of our allotment, acquiring less practical 
knowledge of our native land, than that attained by 
sight-seeing Europeans who visit our shores. 

America has every variety of scenery, even the 
most picturesque and gorgeous — the verdure and 
bloom and fruits of luxuriant Nature in her holiday 
attire; her towering mountains, with their snowy 
crests above the fleecy clouds, and base adorned 
with flowers ; her beautiful rivers, from silver cords 
winding among the wood-crowned hills, to mighty 
waters rising in the far away north, and flowing 
swiftly onward to the southern gulf ; her vast lakes 
with countless laden barks whose snowy sails are 
gladdened by the breeze, or fast plying steamers 
bearing the commerce of the country and the world ; 
her billowy prairies extending from horizon to hori- 
zon, of rank luxuriant verdure and beauteous 
flowers; her golden wheat-fields, whose area is 
bounded by the scope of vision ; her majestic forests, 
whose giant arms have welcomed and waved adieus 
to passing centuries ; her silvery cascades, that leap 
from dizzy heights and send back their rainbow 
tints to heaven; her labyrinthine caverns, those 
mysteries of nature unexplored by man; ravines 
and canons with frowning rocks thousands of feet 
above on either side; precipitous, jutting chffs upon 
whose shelving edge the mountain goat seeks safety 
from pursuit, and the eagle rests from weary flight, 
primeval and stupendous work of Nature, fit court 
and workshop of the gods; America's vale of Cash- 
mere, where flows the Yellowstone ; geysers, crys- 
tal lakelets and orange groves ; mystic mounds and 



PKEFACE. T 

rock houses of a race whose very name can only be 
conjectured — the ever varied scenery so grand, so 
beautiful, all invite the student of nature. 

Glancing again for the hundredth time, perhaps, 
at the pencilings made while visiting the regions o 
the "Far West" — regions of mystery, but which 
the enterprise of my countrymen is fast bringing 
into direct relations with our homes — far off lands 
from which letters come, and to which letters go, 
lands over which the glorious old flag proudly waves, 
I find many facts and thoughts suggested by them 
which may interest many readers, and avoiding the 
details of a continuous tour which might weary the 
general reader, I present scenes and records of 
events which it is hoped will afford entertainment 
and information, and so repay the perusal. 

The many and wonderful changes, incident to 
progress, which have occurred within the last de- 
cade in the States and Territories west of the Mis- 
sissippi, the many cities, towns and villages, which 
have risen from mountain and plain, by sea- side 
and river, the public enterprises affecting the wel- 
fare of men, which have been inaugurated in these 
growing and prosperous communities, the brihiant 
achievements of genius, skill, perseverance and |in- 
dustry, that have gone forth to benefit humanity, 
are all eras of history, to which Americans turn 
with eminent satisfaction and warrantable pride. 

The publications, concerning the great West, 
written but a few years ago, are now only valuable 
and interesting as records of the past ; they utterly 
fail to impart information desired concerning the 
present condition of the country, however reliable 



8 PREFACE. 

the records, however exhaustive in detail, however 
observing the tourist, and however just the judg- 
ments expressed ; these records were of communi- 
ties and regions, of governments, of enterprises 
accomphshed and in contemplation then, but are in 
no sense mirrors of the present time. In relation 
to very many subjects and truths of vital interest 
and importance to the people, they are necessarily 
silent, for the knowledge was then veiled in the un- 
known future. In the preparation of this work, I 
have aimed to present facts only, and to speak of 
conditions existing to-day, — in fine to delineate 
scenes witnessed, and report the varied information 
attained in an extended tour of observation. 

For many interesting facts and much valuable 
information contained in this work, I am indebted 
to the courtesy of Prof. Joseph L. Barfoot, curator 
of the Museum, Salt Lake City, Utah ; to J. S. Hay, 
Esq., Editor of the Avalanche, Silver City, Idaho, 
and to the Editor of the Herald, Helena, Montana. 

Permit me to hope that the present work wiH 
meet and merit the welcome of the thousands wha 
have accorded their favor to my earlier publications^ 
and that it may win the approval of the general 
public. 

THE AUTHOK. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEK I. 
An Emigrant Train Westward Bound — Historic Ground — An 
Old Fortress on the Lake Shore — Eeminiscences — A Bird's- 
Eye View of Cleveland Page, 13. 

CHAPTER n. 

The Mounds of Ohio and the Mound Builders — Excavations and 
Interesting Discoveries — The Primitive Settlement of Ameiica 
— Washington's Island — Views of Pittsburg Page, 28. 

CHAPTER in. 
Navigation of the Upper Ohio — Scenery — Blennerhassett Island 
— The Character of Aaron Burr — Arrival at Cincinnati — The 
City as it was and as it is- -The Great Southern Railroad . Page, 44. 

CHAPTER IV. 
A Trip Down the River — Buiial Place of President Harrison — 
The Wonders of Mammoth Cave 'Page, 68. 

CHAPTER V. 
Natural Scenery in Kentucky^ — The Capital of the State — Old 
Home and Memories of Henry Clay — Indianapolis — The Battle 
Ground of Tippecanoe — Fort Wayne — An Indiaii's Savings 
Bank — First View of the Western Prairies — Peoria — Galena — 
Life Under Ground Page, 91. 

CHAPTER VI. 
DubiTque and its Surroundings — Alarm of Fire — Mike Carrigan, 
the Man for an Emergency — Davenport — Its Early History — 
Burlington — Keokuk — Quincy — Moonlight on the River — Arri- 
val at St. Louis Page, 108. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Members of the Party — Departure for the West — Scenery Along 
the River — A Thrilling Night Adventure — A Ride for Life^ 
Furious Men and Ferocious Beasts — Off for the Plains. Page, 120. 
CHAPTER Vni. 

Beautiful Kansas — Topography of the State — Vast Prairies — 
Game — A " Great American Desert"— The Lost Race of Men 
— Wonderful Discoveries — Topeka — Lawrence — A Hunting 
Expedition — Vast Herds of Buffaloes — Indians— Our Camp, 
Eic Page, 135. 



CHAPTER IX. 

'Tales About the Camp Fire — The Sioux Indians — A Scrap of 

History — A ThriUiug Adventure Page, 152. 

CHAPTER X. 
A Buffalo Hunt — A Friend's Picture — Discourse About Birds, 

Etc Page, 175. 

CHzVPTER XL 

A New Encampment — Off for Colorado — Impressions of Denver 

— Topography and Resources of the State — History — Wonderfid 

Scenei-y — The Garden of the Gods — Mountain Peaks and 

Ranges — Mount of the Holy Cross — -Canons, Cascades and 

Parks — A Perilous Position Page, 192, 

CHAPTER Xn. 
The Rivers of Colorado — The Great Mining Regions— Leadville — 
Cities and Towns of Special Interest — Resources and Products 
of the State — The Great Colorado — Houses of a Buried Race — - 

Indians Page 216. 

CHAPTER Xm. 
Chmate of Colorado — Colorado Springs — The Chiann Mountain 
— The Ute Pass — The Elevation of the Country at Points 

Along the Route Page, 231. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
A Trip to Utah — Among the Mormons — Salt Lake City — " The 
Dead Sea" — Mining Interests — The Early Settlements — 

Scenery of the Coimtry Page 240. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Up the Missouri — Leavenworth — Other Points Upon the River — 
Sceneiy — The Stock Business of the Plains — Remarkable 
Lakes — Struck a Snag — A Buffalo Hunt — Lost on the Prairie 

— Manners and Customs of the Indians Page 251. 

CHAPTER XVL 
Nebraska — Chmate — Scenery — Resources — Beautiful VaUeys — 
Over the Plains — An Ocean Drained of its Waters — Old Fort 

Kearney Page, 268. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
'The Great Sand-Banks— Wild Animals— A Bear Hunt— The 
"Bad Lands" of Dakota— The Wonderful VaUey— A Night's 
Experience — The Black Hills — Harney's Peak — An Enchanting 
View from the Summit — Bridgers, the Noted Trapper — His 
Adventures — Wonderful Cave — Diversity of Scenery along the 

River Page, 277. 

CHAPTER XVm. 
Dakota — The Red River Country — Large Farms — The Dakota 
System of Farming — The Lumber Interests — Bismarck — Emi- 
gration Page, 290. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Upper Mississippi — Natural Scenery of Minnesota — Beauti- 
ful Lakes and Rivers — Climate — Chief Cities — "Wisconsin — 
Features of the Coimtry — Wonderful Earth Mounds — A Visit 
to the State Capital and other Cities — A Scrap of History, 
Etc Page, 298. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Valley of the Yellowstone — The National Park — Scenery of 
Exquisite Beauty — Yellowstone Lake — The Grand Canon — 
Wonderful Natural Features — The Great Falls — The Upper 
Falls — Firehole River — Wonderful Geysers — Mystic and 
Shadow Lakes — A Mountain of Glass — Mt. Blackmore — Route 

to the Park Page, 310. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Wyoming — Mountains — Rivers — Valleys — Plains — Wild Animals 
— The Bed of a Former Ocean — Wonderful Natural Curiosities 
— Antedeluvian Animals — Gold Discoveries — Cheyenne — Forts 
— Montana — Chmate — Routes to Montana — Natural Divisions 
of the Territory — River Sources in the Mountains. . . Page, 324. 
CHAPTER XXII. 

Eastern Montana — A Vast Unoccupied Region — The Western 
Wilds in Earlier Days — Appearance of the Countiy — Produc- 
tions — Stock Raising — Attractions for the Tourist — Hunting 
Grounds — A Letter by Arapooish, a Crow Chief.. .Page, 337. 
CHAPTER XXni. 

:Stock Raising — Mineral Resources of Montana — The First Min- 
ing Excitement — A Reminiscence — Road Agents — Famous 
Gold and Silver Mines — Treasure Repositories of this Coimtry, 

Etc Page, 349. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Fair Margins — Up the Yellowstone — A Visit to the Trappers' 
Camps — An Untrodden Wilderness — Night Visit from an 
American Lion — A Party of Indians — Their Habits and Cus- 
toms — The Indian's Love of Country — Hunters' Life — A 
Thrilling Adventure — A Grizzly Bear — Hostile Indians — Warn- 
ing the Trappers — Trapping Expeditions, Etc Page, 365. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Preparations for Trading with the Trappers — Following a Trail — 
Indians on the War-Patli — Hasty Departure — Fort C. F. Smith 
— The Mountains of Wyoming — An Inaccessible Mountain 
Range — Mountain Sheep — Departure of the Steamer — A Trap- 
per's Statement — A Day of Trouble — An Indian Plot — A Little 
Act of Generosity Rewarded — A Long Journey — Wild Animals, 

Etc Page, 380. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Fort Benton — Arrival of the EUiot — The Great Falls of the Mis- 



souri — Departure of the Elliot — In the Gold Eegions — The 
Charaiiers Seen There — Off for Idaho — The Snake Desert — 
The Grandest Cataracts of the Continent — Mining Regions. 
Etc Page, 394. 

chapti:r XXVII. 

Washington Teiiitoiy — Natural Features and Scenery of the 
Countiy — The Walla Walla Region — Its Condition, Present 
and Prosjiective — The Chmate — Puget Sound— An Adventure, 
Etc Page, 414. 

CHAPTER XXVm. 

The Columbia River — A Trip to Portland — Iron Mines — The 
Beautiful Valley of the Willamette — The Resources of the Ter- 
ritory — The Future Commercial Emporium of the Pacific Coast 
—Mountain Scenery — Climate, Etc Page, 425. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Off for Cahfomia — The Fort Bentou Party — First Ride over the 
Great Pacific Railroad — Wonderful SceneiT — Mountains and 
Canons — Hot Springs — A Race for Life — Arrival in California 
---Carson Valley — Lake Tahoe — Mining Interests, Etc. Page, 433. 

CHAPTER XXX. 
California — Varieties of Climate — Beautifad Sceneiy — The Won- 
ders of the Yosemite Page, 449. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Big Tree Groves — Geysers- -Petrified Forests — Subhme Moun- 
tain Scenery — Lakes of Rarest Beauty — Natural Bridges — Cas- 
cades — Canons — Gorgeous Flowers — Indians — Former Races 

of Men— Wild Animals, Etc Page, 462. 

CHAPTER XXXn. 
Across the Country to Arizona — Natural Features of the Coimtry 
— The Great Rivers — Wonderful Canons — Ancient Ruins — CH- 

mate. Etc Page, 486. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Alaska— Its Extent— Climate--Sitka— The Yukon River— A "Yo- 
semite Valley" in Alaska---A Wonderfid Region. . . .Page, 507. 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The Great Glaciers of Alaska---The Remains of Extinct Species--- 
The Glaciers Sent to Market— The Fur Trade— The Animals 
Hunted by the Natives---The Modes of Capture- -Dri^dng a 
Flock of Seals, Etc., Et:-. Page, 521. 




CHAPTEE I. 

-Aq Emigrant Train Westward Bound — Historic Ground — An Old For- 
tress on the Lake Shore — Reminiscences — A Bird's-eye View of 
Cleveland. 

In and about the railway station in Buffalo, N. Y., 
one bright day in early spring in the year 1877, was 
a larger concourse of travelers than usual, awaiting 
the departure of the westward train. It was a motley 
assemblage. There were men in blouses and caps, 
long blue overcoats faded and worn ; others in round- 



14 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

abouts, with guns or rustic canes in their hands, or 
odd parcels in their arms, and long tobacco pipes in 
their mouths, — with strong boots that were russet 
with dust, homespun clothing of home manufac- 
ture ; there were a few old men, bending under the 
weight of years; young men with strong arms, 
bronzed faces and hard hands ; old women in caps 
and good natured faces ; buxom young women with 
chests large enough for the great hearts and sound 
lungs they contained, attired in plain clothing, 
without ornament or decoration; some with babes 
in their arms and others leading little children with 
faces like a full moon, and great eyes that peered 
curiously into everything, while cramming into open 
mouths, sausage and pretzel; young maidens with 
the bloom of health, sparkling eyes and with figures 
and mien telling of strength and endurance — all of 
these people chattering hke magpies, in the lang- 
uage of the Fadeiiand, looking at the clock every 
few moments, eager for the hour of departure. 

There was a smaller party of men in the strength 
of early manhood, with light hair and blue eyes, 
who had come from the north of Europe and were 
going, as they hoped, to meet their Scandinavian 
friends, in the far-off land of the Golden West. 

The bell struck the signal for departure. The 
cry of " all aboard " instantly put the throng in mo- 
tion, and with scrambling and running, falling and 
mistaking the way, then finding it by directions and 
kind assurances of the conductor and pohcemen 
— of which not a word was understood by one of 
the number, beyond the gentle tones and affable 
manners, which expression of good will never needs 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 15 

interpretation — all were at length comfortably seated 
in the coaches, and the train moved onward, more 
and more swiftly, and the last sound of the whistle 
and clamor of its wheels was lost in the distance, 
as the iron steed dashed away toward the Great 
West with the great company who had exchanged 
the privations and penurj^ of their native land, for 
thrift and prosperity in the land of their adoption; 
who had braved the perils of the sea, anticipating' 
rich rewards for hardships endured, when at last 
the Eldorado of their happy dream should have 
been reached, and home should be dearer home 
again. 

I, too, was going to the Great West, and accord- 
ingly took passage, the day following, for Cincinnati^ 
there to meet, as I hoped, the little party who pro- 
posed to make an extended tour of exploration 
throughout the States and Territories, from the 
confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi, to the 
northern boundary of our country, and from the 
Mississippi to the shores of the Pacific, for he who 
would write of the "wilds of the West, beyond the 
bounds of civiUzation" must write quickly, or the 
party of yesterday and other parties of thousands 
and tens of thousands will be there before him, to 
convert the smiHng prairies of primeval nature into 
golden wheat-fields and pretty gardens, to utihze the 
mountain torrents for turning mill-wheels, and to 
rear the church-spire and dome of the school-house 
where now the tall and stately forests extend their 
arms in token of welcome. 

I was duly equipped with the supplies needful for 
the journey, from the most approved fishing-rod 



16 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

that piscatorial art could devise, and rifle for which 
Daniel Boone would have given the peltries of an 
entire season, field-glass, microscope, note-book and 
pencil, with all the odds and ends which kind and 
thoughful friends had deposited in my knapsack, 
and which — ten thousand thanks to them — I found 
most useful. 

However fully and carefully may even an Amer- 
ican read of the vast magnitude, the illimitable 
resources, the present and prospective advantages 
of our country, however he may wonder at the 
tabular showing and long columns of statistics that 
gazetteers take so much pains to collect, and so much 
pleasure in placing before him, concerning the rapid 
growth, the remarkable i)rosperity and general and 
singular beauty of our great western cities, he can 
attain a full conception of the marvelous facts only 
by making a tour of observation for himself; and 
when he has done so, he wiU be more inclined to 
glorify the American eagle, and pronounce for Yan- 
kee Doodle sovereignty than ever before. There is 
nothing, not all the patriotic addresses of Wash- 
ington nor Patrick Henry, Webster nor Clay, nor all 
the Fourth of July orations ever read or hstened to, 
will so intensify a man's patriotism, if he be intelli- 
gent and honest, as to make a tour of inspection 
from one boundary of Uncle Sam's domains to the 
other. He will see and feel wherever he goes that 
under the national flag there is that measure of 
hberty, equality and fraternity, that thrift and 
prosperity, that enterprise, energy, self-rehance, 
individuality, force of character and grandeur of 
achievements, which not all the experiments under 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 17 

any other government, has the world elsewhere 
ever attained. Without participating in the spirit 
of rivalry which occasionally evinces itself in para- 
graphs in the local public journals of the chief cities, 
or caring in the least whether Chicago or Cincin- 
nati maintains the greatest beef and pork-packing 
business, or a heavier grain trade, or whether St. 
Louis takes the lead, or Louisville outdoes aU other 
cities in her operations in tobacco, or one city has 
a score or two more inhabitants than another, we 
may surely find enough to attract attention, awaken 
a lively interest and excite admiration and wonder 
in each and all of them ; and this also in cities of 
lesser pretentions that are, in fact, fast rising to 
equal opulence and importance. 

As we note the rise and progress of the chief 
cities — or that are entitled to such distinction to- 
day — we may form an idea of the greatness that will 
soon be attained by the lesser ones of favorable 
geographical position, having ample and direct 
facilities of communication with vast and thriving 
tributary regions of country, as well as with the 
great markets of the East. 

How we delight in our quiet moments — in those 
lulls which now and then occur in the rush and 
whir of the busiest hves — to step through the half- 
closed doors leading into the avenues of the past, 
and again wander through the paths we have trod, 
to climb the hills and drink from the fountains 
where we climbed, and from which we quaffed in 
the long ago. 

Ah, wondrous fair have grown those paths which 
then were oft so monotonous and common ])lace ! 



18 LIFE IN THE WILDS C:.'' AMERICA, 

Forgetting all the roiiglmess of the way, the briers 
that pierced our feet, the obstacles that w^ere al- 
most insurmountable, and the storms that beat 
upon us — forgetting the snltry noons, and the chill 
of bleak wintry days, and remembering only the 
cool depths of the green woods, crystal springs 
gushing from mossy rocks, flowery glades where we 
rested, and sun-kissed hills that blushed wath beauty, 
we revel now^ in the enjoyment of what then wdth 
fortitude and hope we only endured. It is this ten- 
dency of the mind to dwell with pleasure on things 
of the past — this golden haze with w^hich the hand 
of time clothes and glorifies pleasures past and 
treasures lost, that renders travel so delightful. 
What heart-pictures hang in memory's gallery, and 
how^ fondly do w^e turn to them in long after years ! 
It is wise policy to forget the disagreeables of life — 
to mark only golden hours — to trap the sunbeams 
as they flit by us, and the wisest philosophy to 
extract all possible enjoyment from the comming- 
ling in hfe's experience of sorrows and joys, smiles 
and tears, tempests and sunshine. 

With such musings I was so absorbed, that I did 
not hear the calling of the station, and had scarcely 
time to collect my possessions, to pocket my rail- 
way guide and to leave the train at the pretty little 
city of Erie, Penn., before it was again in motion. 
In the beautiful lake shore region of northw^estern 
Pennsylvania, where the town of Erie now stands, 
the searcher after historic rehcs may find some still 
existing traces of an old fortress, built by the French 
in 1749, and called by them Fort de la Presqtie Isle. 
The historical associations of the locahty are full 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 19 

of interest. Though Erie is now " away down 
East" it was once on the frontiers of the West. A 
century-and-a-half ago, buffaloes roamed over this 
region and the Indian pursued his game. Those 
were stirring times, when white men came across 
the ocean to dispute with each other for the posses- 
sion of the lands of the red men. 

The adjoining peninsula from which the fort de- 
rived its name, did not at that time, extend so far 
down the lake, by several hundred yards, as it does 
at present, and was as far from presenting the pictur- 
esque appearance of to-day as can weU be imagined. 
Dreary and barren, it extended to formidable length, 
to the obstruction of navigation along the coast, yet 
forming a safe harbor, where vessels might ride at 
anchor through the fiercest storm ; and storms on 
Lake Erie were then as now, more dreaded by the 
sailor than on the broad Atlantic. This harbor has 
greatly changed in appearance since those early 
days, for the grand old trees which then cast their 
fantastic shadows far out upon its placid waters, 
have long since fallen beneath the strokes of the 
hardy pioneer, and in their stead have arisen the 
fisherman's cottage and the busy marts of trade 
and commerce. Gone forever from the coast of 
Erie is the Frenchman's batteau and the war canoe 
of the savage ; level, overgrown and obhterated the 
graves of the men of those times, and crumbhng 
and moss-grown are the quaint old head-stones that 
mark the last resting places of their great grand- 
children. So have the years rolled on ; so has the 
question of proprietorship of the lands and waters 
been solved ; so will the problem of nationahty and 



20 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ownership of the great West be solved, and the 
historian of another century will tell of a race that 
lived, that offered feeble resistance to the march of 
civilization, only to be crushed and swept from the 
face of the earth for their temerity. But the lake 
still brightens in the sunshine and darkens in the 
storm, as of old ; still the weaves dash in fury with 
the gale, still the wavelets answer to the gentle 
breeze, and i)lacid w^aters reflect the features of 
nature and the w^orks of man ; and still the rocks 
and hills along the lovely shores tower aloft as in 
the days when they echoed back the gay song of 
the French voyageur, or the appalling war cry of 
the red men of the forest. 

In the year 1760, the French abandoned the west- 
ern waters and Presque Isle passed into the hands 
of the Enghsh, who held it unmolested until June 
4, 1763 — a fatal day to many of the garrisons posted 
throughout the West, for on that day was enacted 
the first bloody tragedy of Pontiac's war, — a war 
w^hich, though of short duration, yet lasted long 
enough to fill the whole frontier with mourning and 
desolation. 

Pontiac, who was chief of the Ottawa tribe and 
principal Sachem of the Algonquin Confederacy, 
was one of the most remarkable Indians in the 
annals of history. His form was noble, his address 
commanding, and he was distinguished for that lofty 
courage and burning eloquence that inspired his race 
with heroic daring, won the confidence of the Tjake 
Indians, and moulded them to liis will. 

The plan of operations adopted by this i)owerful 
chieftain for effecting tha extinction of the Enghsh 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 21 

power, evinced genius and courage of high order. 
It was a sudden and simultaneous attack on all the 
mihtary posts upon the lake. If all could be sur- 
prised in one day and every Enghsh banner which 
floated from the ramparts of all this hne of forts be 
prostrated at the same time, the garrisons would be 
unable to exchange assistance, so that probably the 
war might begin and end with a single blow, and 
Pontiac again be king and master in the land of his 
fathers. 

This plan he first disclosed to the Ottawas, one 
of the most powerful tribes in all the lake shore 
region, and having thoroughly convinced them of 
its wisdom and expediency, he then assembled a 
grand council of the Confederacy at the river Aux 
Ecorces. To these assembled tribes he urged the 
feasibihty of his plan with all the cunning and elo- 
quence of which he was master. He appealed to 
their fears, their hopes, their patriotism, their ha- 
tred of the English and their spirit of revenge. 
Aware of the great power of superstition over their 
minds, he appealed to this under the pretence of a 
revelation — as the much-married men of Utah have 
since done — a revelation wliich the Great Spirit had 
made to him in a dream. " Why," said the Great 
Spirit, "why do you suffer these dogs to enter your 
country and take away the land I have given you ? 
Drive them from it, and when you are in distress I 
will help you." 

This was the finishing stroke. If the Great Spirit 
was on their side, it was of course, impossible to 
fail. All the details of this scheme were arranged 
upon the spot, and all along the lake frontiers, and 



22 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

even down^ to the borders of Nortli Carolina, did 
the hostile tribes join in the terrible conspiracy. 

Meanwhile the unsuspecting traders pursued their 
traffic in fancied security, with the seemingly friend- 
ly savages ; the soldiers in the fort became idle and 
careless from inaction; the frontiersmen planted 
their corn and confidently hoped for an unmolested 
harvest, for now that the w^ar with France was over, 
they feared no further disturbance from the Indians. 
Alas, even then a relentless foe was marching upon 
them with rapid strides. 

Gradually every post was hemmed in by the con- 
federate tribes. At last the fatal day came. The 
morning broke clear and calm in the dehcious fresh- 
ness of early summer. The grand old forest, clothed 
in all the rich luxuriance of leafy June, gave forth 
no warning of approaching danger to the doomed 
stockade, and yet through all its green arcades and 
deep recesses were silently mustering the vengeful 
foe. 

At the fort the soldiers had repaired to their 
quarters for breakfast. Some, who had already fin- 
ished, sauntered down to the beach, where they idly 
watched the sparkhng waves as they swept in before 
the freshening breeze and dashed in feathery foam 
upon the sands; others were strolling aimlessly 
about the fortress whiling away the morning hours 
with jest and song. Suddenly a knocking was heard 
at the gate, and three Indians in hunting garb were 
announced, desiring an interview with the comman- 
der. They claimed to belong to a hunting party 
who had started for Niagara with a lot of furs, that 
their canoes were bad, and rather than go further 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 23 

they would sell them at the fort at a great bargain ; 
that their party had encamped by a small stream 
about a mile west of the fort, where they had 
landed the previous night, and where they wished 
the commander to go and examine their peltries, as 
it was difficult to bring them through the woods 
without pack-horses, and they wished to embark 
from where they were in case they could not trade. 
The story was plausible enough, and told with every 
appearance of truth, but no sooner did they get the 
commander and the few w4io had accompanied him 
within their camp, than they murdered them, and 
then sent some two hundred of their band back to 
the fort, bearing upon their shoulders what appeared 
to be large packs of furs, which they niformed the 
officer in charge the commander had purchased and 
ordered deposited within the fort. 

The heutenant had been charged by his superior 
when he left the fort to allow no one to enter within 
during his absence, and well would it have been for 
the httle garrison had this order been obeyed. 
Whether there was any parley held with the sav- 
ages, or any reluctance manifested about admitting 
them, tradition telleth not, but the strategem suc- 
ceeded, and when within the fort the Indians threw 
oft' their packs which proved to be only an outside 
covering of furs concealing their weapons, and seiz- 
ing these, with loud yells of triumph they rushed 
with demoniac fury upon the panic-stricken troops. 
Unarmed and outnumbered, resistance was of but 
httle avail ; yet we may well believe that many a 
brave fellow seized whatever weapon came to hand 
and died not unavenged. 



24 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEHR'A, 

A soldier wlio had gone out early in search of 
game, heard the hideous yells, and as he cautiously 
approached the fort, discovered a p^rty of Indians 
dragfifing away several prisoners ; turning quickly, he 
fled through the forest, and after many hair breadth 
escapes, finally arrived in safety at Niagara. Only 
one other was left alive from that horrid massacre^ 
and that one was a woman. She had taken shelter 
in a small hut below the hill, and there she remained 
undiscovered until near the close of that fatal day, 
when her retreat was invaded by a hideously painted 
warrior, who made her a prisoner but spared her 
life. All the other prisoners w-ere put to death 
with cruel tortures, and she alone escaped to tell the 
tale, but it w^as after long years of captivity more 
cruel than death. 

Nine garrisons on that day of horrors, fell a prey 
to, the fierce assailants; the remaining four either 
received warning in time to guard against surprise, 
or thej^ were favored with commanders of superior 
skill and caution. With these the strategy of the 
wily savages w-as unsuccessful and the garrisons, 
although sorely pressed were enabled to hold out 
until relief arrived from the eastern settlements. 

In the year following. Gen. Bradstreet went up 
the lake wnth three thousand men to the rehef of 
Detroit. They jmssed Presque Isle on their way, 
and upon their return to that ])oint a treaty of 
peace was agreed upon with the Delawares and 
Shawnese ; but it was soon broken by the savages, 
and the frontier was kept in constant alarm and 
trepidation until Wayne's expedition in 1794. This 
renowned general and successful Indian fighter, on 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 25 

his way to the Mauinee, estabhshed a garrison at 
Presque Isle, and here on his return, two years later, 
he died and was bnried at the foot of the flag-staff,, 
but in 1809 his remains were removed to the church- 
yard of his former place of w^orship in Delaware 
County, Pennsylvania. 

The next famous personage whose honored name 
is associated with Erie, was Commodore Perry, 
then only twenty-six years of age. He arrived at 
Presque Isle February 27, 1813, and immediately 
urged on the work of building and equipping the fleet, 
which under his daring and skillful command swept 
the British fleet from the western waters. The vic- 
torious vessels with their prizes so gallantly won on 
the memorable 10th of September, were taken back 
to the harbor of Presque Isle, where some of them 
afterwards simk and remained in that condition for 
many years. 

But the Erie of to-day, rich in historical associa- 
tions as it is, no longer hes upoi] the frontier of th& 
West. 

Arriving in the city of Cleveland, and having but 
a day or two for observation, we made the best use 
of our time and of our eyes. 

Upon the central public park there is a fine statue 
of Com. Perry, with emblematical surroundings. 
From its position, the lake,— a few hundred yards, 
away — can be plainly seen through the vista of the 
wide spreading branches of grand old trees, which 
are so very numerous as to fuUy warrant the name 
which distinguishes Cleveland as the "Forest City." 

There is not a more cleanly and beautiful city on 
the continent than Cleveland. Situated upon a. 



26 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

bluft' a liimdred feet perhaps, above the lake, with 
other bkiffs and hills that form the southern bound- 
ary of the city, which is built on both sides of the 
Cuyahoga river, its sanitary condition in relation to 
drainage, is all that can be desired. Along the 
eastern frontage of the city rises terrace above ter- 
race, clothed with verdure, while the plateau above 
is crowned with a lovely park, adorned with choice 
flowers, ornamental trees, shrubs and grottoes, and 
laid out with pleasant walks most enjoyable at all 
times in warm weather, but especially charming 
upon a moonlight evening, with the lake in full 
view, its pure waters shimmering and sparkhng like 
molten silver, with steamers and sailing vessels in 
the back-ground of the picture, and in the fore- 
ground countless little boats and canoes plying at 
the pleasure of parties who direct their course, and 
with a fine band discoursing delicious music to the 
happy groups who come hither for a pleasant prome- 
nade. 

Euclid Avenue is one of the most delightful 
thoroughfares to be seen in any city in this coun- 
try. Broad, level and skirted with large ornamental 
trees that almost mingle their foliage from opposite 
sides, the avenue is an arcade or bower of living 
green, affording a delightful shade, deliciously cool 
and refreshing in inidsummer, w'hile myriads of 
birds — an importation of Enghsli sparrows, and 
their i)rogeny — hold high carnival in this forest of 
beauty. These little birds, by the way, are great 
protectors of the trees; they endure the cold 
weather with wondrous hardihood, and with the 
daily offering of crumbs w^hicli the people then 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 27 

gladly bestow, they manage to pick iip a living 
■during the "glacial period" of a northern winter, 
and they avail themselves of the cosy cots gener- 
ously provided for them, becoming very tame and 
almost f amihar with their patrons, and though there 
is not more music in their tiny throats than in a 
penny whistle, they do their best to express their 
gratitude, which is more than can be said of all 
bipeds. 

Elegant residences with spacious ornamental 
grounds and pretty lawns extend for miles along 
this charming avenue of the thriving, busy and 
prosperous city, which may well lay claim to the 
possession of some of the best schools, finest 
churches, most substantial blocks, largest ware- 
houses and workshops, excellent hotels and best 
news journals to be found in any of the great cities 
of the West. 

Cleveland is every year becoming more and more a 
favorite summer resort for people of the sunny South 
who seek to escape from the scorching atmosphere 
of the torrid chme and find a delightful breathing- 
place in the cool regions of the North. In late 
spring, balmy summer and early autumn, Cleveland 
is in hohday dress, and most delightful. In early 
spring and late autumn it is a good place to vacate, 
unless one has India-rubber lungs and throat lined 
with vulcanite. In mid-winter, with good sleigh- 
ing, the visitor will see many of the finest turn-outs, 
and on Euchd avenue especially, witness a scene 
of gaiety and hfe noticeable in few other cities. 



•28 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE II. 

The Mouiiils i)f Ohio and the Mound BiiikU;rs — Excavations and Inter- 
esting Discoveries — The Primitive Settlement of America — Wash- 
infjlon's Island — Views of Pittsburgh. 

The non-arrival of two or more gentlemen from 
the other side of the ocean, who were to join our 
party in 8t. Louis, occasioned a short delay in 
starting upon our proposed expedition to the West, 
and tliough somewhat disappointed and impatient 
to proceed, as it was already the first week of May, 
and I wished to see the prairies before the advance 
of the season should have withered their verdure, 
I availed myself of the opportunity thus afforded 
for visiting localities and scenes of special interest 
in the "Buckeye State" and in Kentucky. In 
these sections of country there are a thousand 
things of extraordinary interest to see, and well 
worth all the trouble and time required for doing 
so. 

An opportunity for seeing the great earth mounds 
of Ohio was not to be neglected. A profound, 
perhaps impenetrable mystery envelops ahke the 
construction and purposes of these w^onderful works, 
the creations of a race of men who have been 
dust for centuries, of whom no other record or 
memorial has ever been discovered than these monu- 
ments, w^liich are, if undisturbed by man, as lasting 
as the pryamids of Egyi)t. These artificial mounds 
are very frequently connected with the remains of 
forts, w^alls and other fortifications, that for engi- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 29 

neering- skill and mathematical ingenuity would 
compare favorably with many works of similar 
character of the present day. 

I first visited these old-time fortifications near 
Newark, Ohio, at the forks of the Muskingum 
Hiver. These works are on the most extensive 
scale, extending over an area considerably larger 
than that occupied by the entire city of Cincinnati. 
The fortifications face the north, and he between 
Eaccoon Creek and the South Fork, forming three 
sides of a rhomboidal figure. On the extreme left 
there are the remains of a circular fort, which con- 
tains about twenty-two acres. In the center of 
this fort is an observatory of stone, that evidently 
at the period of its construction, rose to a far 
greater height than the surrounding territory, of 
which it commanded an unobstructed view for 
many miles in every direction. This fort and also 
the other works connected with it, are built on the 
blufl's of the tw^o streams. Northeast of it, and 
nearly half a mile distant, there is another larger 
fort, octagonal in shape, which encloses about forty 
acres. It is connected with the former by two 
parallel walls that originally formed covert ways. 
From the latter, parallel walls extend southward 
for a distance of several miles, and from their con- 
struction it is probable that these formed a line of 
connection with other works of a similar character, 
located about thirty miles distant. From each of 
these forts, covert ways extended to the river, on 
the west and north. The larger of these forts is 
connected by two high walls with another fort 
nearly four miles to the eastward, and situated near 



30 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

the junction of the two streams. This is nearly 
square and covers an area of twenty acres. It 
communicates with the river on the north by cov- 
ert ways, and with tw^o small redoubts and a number 
of mounds, by parallel walls. In this manner it is 
connected with another large fort containing nearly 
thirty acres, and situated about two miles to the 
soutlnvest. The last, hke the first, is circular, and is 
situated about four miles from it. 

The mounds connected with these fortifications 
were evidently used as burial places for the dead — 
probably those w^ho feU in battle — as skeletons and 
fragments of the bones of human beings have been 
found in them. Fhnt arrow and spear-heads, and 
other stone implements are found in this locahty in 
great abundance. 

I subsequently visited one of the most remarkable 
of the burial mounds located in Lancaster, Fairfield 
County, Ohio. It is about fifty feet in diameter, 
and twenty feet in height. A few years ago it was 
opened, and in it were found tw^elve human skele- 
tons, inclosed in an earthen vessel which was 
moulded with considerable skiU, but without em- 
blem or ornamentation. This vessel rested upon a 
furnace of unhewn stone eighteen feet in length. 
In the same vessel were found many shells, beads 
and arrows-heads. The furnace contained a large 
quantity of ashes and charcoal, and the vessel in 
which the skeletons were deposited bore marks of 
the most intense heat. L)id the Mound Builders 
dispose of their dead by crenjation? In most cases 
throughout the West, where, by the way, burial 
mounds are very numerous, the exhumed remains. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 31 

of the Mound Builders have been found highly cal- 
cined. 

The Mammoth mound of West Virginia was next 
visited. It is situated on the flats of Grave Creek 
near Ehzabethtown, Marshall Coimty. It is, per- 
haps, half a mile distant from the river, and may be 
distinctly seen from the decks of passing steamers. 
Situated on the level "flats," it presents a striking 
and interesting appearance. It occupies an area of 
about two acres, and slopes graduaUy from the 
summit, which rises far above the tops of the tall- 
est trees that grow at its base. The mound is sur- 
rounded by an enclosure embracing several acres, 
which is now utihzed for the county fair- grounds. 
Upon its sides, which are clothed with a luxuriant 
grow^th of blue-grass, large forest trees of oak and 
poplar have grown, and judging from' the size and 
number of these. Mammoth mound is as old as the 
hills a mile away on the opposite side of the river. 
A gigantic oak that formerly grew on the summit 
of the mound, and which was cut down to give place 
to an ornamental building, erected a few years ago, 
showed by its concentric circles that it was at least 
half a century old. In the summer, when the trees 
upon the mound are covered with fohage, it appears 
to be twice as large as it reaUy is. 

The excavations which have thus far been made 
have proved unsatisfactory ; no rehcs especially in- 
teresting have been discovered therein. Speculation 
only can define its purpose, but there are reasons 
which seem to warrant the opinion that it was de- 
signed for rehgious ceremonies; it may, however 
have formed one in the series of^ signal stations, 



32 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 



which as ah-eady remarked, extend the entire length 
of the Ohio; and this idea is strengthened by its 
height above the general level, which is about one 
hundred and fifty feet. Its extraordinary size pre- 
cludi's the idea that it was erected as a place of 
interment for the dead, and it is of a different char- 
acter from the structures designed for defensive 
purposes. 

About foil)' hundred 
\ards from the base of 
the mound, there is an 
immense basin from which 
the earth was taken to 
build it. With what pa- 
tience was the herculean 
labor performed! Thous- 
ands of men doubtless 
aided in its construction. 
Toihng as the ants toil, 
i ley may have transported 
t he material in their arms, 
or possibly the huge ani- 
mals of that period may 
have been employed for 
the puri)ose. The basin, 
like the mound, is covered 




w^itli a growth of gigantic forest-trees whicli are of 
larger size than those ui)on the mound ; many of 
them are sycamore and ehn. 

The an(-ient earth-works at Marietta, 0., are situ- 
ated on the east bank of the Muskingum River, 
about half a mile above its junction' with the Ohio. 
Though not so extensive as the works at Newark, 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 88 

tliey are, perliaps, more generally interesting from 
the more remarkable relics that have been found in 
them. In one of the mounds in this vicinity a 
highly ornamented silver cup was discovered a few 
years ago. It it said to have been gilded upon the 
inside. 

In -this vicinity there are several forts or inclos- 
ures surrounded by earthen waUs from six to twelve 
feet in height. The largest fort is nearly square, 
and embraces nearly forty acres. On each side 
there were three gateways, and on the west covert 
w^ays extended to the Muskingum Eiver. The city 
cemetery embraces a part of the space formerly 
occupied by a small fort similar in construction to 
those already described. A number of mounds are 
within the enclosure ; one of the largest of wdiich 
is on a conspicuous site near the center of the 
grounds. This mound is a httle more than a hun- 
dred feet in diameter at the base, and about thirty- 
five feet in height. It is surrounded by a ditch 
five feet in depth and twelve feet wide, and defended 
by a parapet five feet high. Among the monuments 
in the cemetery are those of Commodore Whipple, 
of Eevolutionary fame. General Eufus Putnam, 
Jonathan Meigs, once Governor of Ohio, and many 
others. Will these memorials be as enduring as 
the wonderful works of the mound builders ? Num- 
erous remains of the ancient race have been 
exhumed from the mounds in this locality. Here 
in the same ground are the bones of men w^hose 
hves may have been separated for a thousand years, 
perhaps a much longer period. 

The mounds that were used whoUy as signal 



84 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

stations, are very numerous on the Ohio below 
Cincinnati, and extend from the region of the 
Alleghany mountains to the Mississippi liiver. They 
all occupy commanding sites on the most promi- 
nent points, and each one is within view^ of that 
immediately above and below it. Watch-fires, or a 
system of colored lights may have been their means 
of communication. 

The earth in these mounds resembles the burned 
clay of brick-kilns, and it is seldom that human 
remains or rehcs of any kind are found in them. 
They appear as though fires had been kept burn- 
ing upon them for ages. 

In Perry county, and in many other places along 
the bluffs of the Ohio, are numerous " Rock 
Houses." These are certainly very quaint struc- 
tures. At the mouth or entrance they are generally 
from three to ten feet high ; the roof slopes back 
until it reaches the floor. The depth seldom ex- 
ceeds tw^enty feet. One of these houses is known 
as the Indian Morter Cave. Within the mouth of 
it, is a large stone that has fallen from the roof, in 
which there are several round holes about six inches 
in diameter, from one to two feet deep, tapering to 
the bottom ; these appear to have been made with 
an iron instrument. Several of these stone huts 
have been entered by visitors, who have been re- 
warded for their pains only by finding arrows- heads 
and stone axes. In one of these we discovered 
several Indian graves that were walled with stone. 

As numerous as are the mounds along the Ohio 
River, they are stiU more so on the lands adjacent 
to the Missouri, the Mississippi, and in Adams 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 35 

County, Illinois, and in other regions of the West. 
An examination of these wonderful works shows 
conclusively that the mound builders w^ere numeri- 
cally a great people, that they had powerful enemies 
and consequently were compelled to erect defensive 
works ; that they possessed a knowledge of mathe- 
matics and engineering and the art of working in 
metals, at least to some extent, all of which implies 
a good degree of intelligence. 

It is the general opinion that these mounds, forti- 
fications, and rock houses were not constructed by 
the ancestors of the red race, but by a people wholly 
distinct from them. There is nothing in the tradi- 
tions of any Indian tribe relating to these structures, 
nor to a people by whom they were constructed. 
The traditions of the Indians relate only to the 
prowess or wonderful skill that some warrior dis- 
played in taking human life. Concerning the anti- 
quities of America, no living race presents an iota of 
history, data, or tradition upon which to base a 
theory. 

By those who accept the Mosaic account of the 
creation of man, various theories have been ad- 
vanced to account for the primitive settlement of 
America. It is argued by certain eminent writers 
that this continent was peopled by Asiatics, who 
reached it by the way of Behring Strait. This 
theory lacks one essential feature and that is practi- 
cabihty. To reach an inhabitable portion of Asia 
from any part of America now inhabited by a civil- 
ized people, by the only route claimed as practicable 
in early times, would now be regarded as an impos- 
sibihty, notwithstanding the fact that the people of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 37 

America have had hundreds of years experience in 
exploring unknown lands ; and yet it is maintained 
that it would have heen vastly easy of accomphsh- 
ment three thousand years ago, when men were so 
utterly helpless that they could not even maintain 
a wandering existence amid the mild and fertile re- 
gions bordering on the Eed Sea without the special 
interposition of God in their behalf. 

Other writers maintain that America was first 
reached by crossing the Atlantic. The Phoenicians 
in the days of Solomon, visited Opliir, which some 
geographers assert was America. Hanno, a distin- 
guished Carthaginian, who lived three thousand 
years ago, sailed for thirty days in a southwesterly 
direction from the Strait of Gibraltar, and the lands 
which he visited were probably some of the Islands 
contiguous to America, or perhaps the main-land 
itself. Other navigators of ancient times are said 
to have visited " a country across the great sea 
which was many times larger than the whole of the 
then known world, and whose rivers were like seas." 

Some writers maintain that the red men of Ameri- 
ca are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, hav- 
ing discovered in their rehgious rites and customs, 
much that is analagous to the practices of the an- 
cient Jews ; that America is "the far country where- 
in man never dwelt" to which allusion is made in 
Esdras, the land to which the Israelites bent their 
wandering steps. There is a striking resemblance 
between the mummies found in the caves and ruins 
of the west, and those found in the catacombs of 
Egypt. Assuming that the ancients were in fre- 
quent communication with this continent — which 



38 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

assumption seems to be warranted, since such com- 
munication was practicable, notwithstanding the 
art of navigation was but imperfectly understood 
in those days — it is comparatively easy to account 
for the primitive settlement of America, — so say the 
theorists; but the aboriginal history of our land will 
doubtless forever remain a mystery. We may gaze 
with wonder upon the ruins of Peru and Central 
America, the teocaUis of Mexico, the ancient cities 
of Arizona and New Mexico, and the mounds and 
fortifications of the Ohio and the West generally; 
W'C may unearth the buried trinkets and utensils of 
war, the idols and ornaments, and implements of 
stone; but our knowledge of the men wdio made 
them, of the hves they led and the fate that swept 
them from the land will forever be utterly w^anting. 
A careful examination of the works of their hands, 
which centuries have not obliterated, will afford 
some knowledge of the customs of the people and 
80 far hnk their history with that of mankind and 
reheve the gloom that envelops the race in mystery. 
Not how^ the Indian came here, but how to get 
rid of him has been the great question of the Ameri- 
can people, and there is no mystery whatever con- 
nected with the disappearance of the thousands of 
*' braves" w^ho once sang their war-songs and joined 
in the chase through all the wild and picturesque 
regions, from the lake to the gulf, and from the 
shores of the Atlantic to the plains of the w^est. 

"Alas for them! their day is o'er, 
Their lires are out from shore to shore ; 
No more for them the wild deer bounds — 
The plough is on their himting grounds, 
The pale man's axe nngs through their woods ; 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 39 

The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods ; 
Their pleasant springs are dry ; 
Their children — look, by power oppressed, 
Beyond the mountains of the west — 
Their children go — to die." 

Having readied the point where the rapid Alle- 
ghany rushing down from the North, meets the more 
gently flowing waters of the Monongahela, as they 
come pouring in from their source among the hills 
of Virginia, forming by their confluence the Ohio, — 
named in the early times by its French discoverers 
La Belle Beviere—'' the beautiful river," I visited 
Washington's Island, in the Alleghany, a short dis- 
tance from the flourishing and prosperous city of 
Pittsburgh, whose coal mines in the neighboring 
hills supply fuel for the cities and towns along the 
river even below Louisville, whose glass houses and 
factories send their merchandise all over the coun- 
try and across the Atlantic ; whose industries and 
enterprise have made the city what it is — a vast 
vs^orkshop, whose fires are never extinguished, a 
mart of trade that gives the city rank among the 
first and best in the union. 

On the Island, George Washington, while return- 
ing from his mission to fort Le Beuf — thirteen miles 
from Erie — passed a most dreary and comfortless 
night. He had left his worn-out horses and heavy 
baggage, and for the sake of expedition was travel- 
ing on foot, accompanied only by Christopher Gist, 
an old frontiersman of great courage and sagacity. 
When they reached the Alleghany at this point, in- 
stead of finding it frozen over, as they had expected, 
they saw that the ice was broken up and driving in 
great quantities and huge masses down the stream. 



40 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEPJCA, 

Wasliiugtoii thus describes the situation: 

" There was no way for getting over, but on a 
raft, which we set about making, with but one poor 
hatchet, and finished just after sun-setting. We 
next got it launched, tlien went on board and set 
off; but before we were halfway over, we were 
jammed in the ice in such a manner that we ex- 
pected every moment our raft to sink, I ]jut out my 
setting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice 
might pass by, when the rapidity of the stream 
threw it with so much violence against the pole 
that it jerked me out into ten feet of water; but I 
fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of 
the raft logs. Notwithstanding all our efforts, we 
could get to neither shore, but were obliged, as we 
were near an island, to quit our raft and make to it. 

" The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist 
had all his fingers frozen, and the water \yas shut 
up so hard during the night that we found no diffi- 
culty in getting off the island on the ice in the 
morning. 

"As we intended to take horses here, and it re- 
quired some time to find them, I went uj) about three 
miles, to the mouth of the Youghiogheny to visit 
Queen Aliquij)pa. I made her a present of a watch- 
coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was thought 
much the better present of the two."' Fancy the 
"Father of Our Country" paying court to a squaw, 
by means of a watch-coat and a bottle of rum, and 
then facetiously remarking that the latter was 
thought much the better present of the tw^o ! 

Returning to Pittsburgh, we visited the old fort 
which formerly guarded the river or rather the delta,. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 41 

and with which many highly interesting associations 
of the early history of the country are connected ; 
then turning from the past to the present, and with 
some difficulty climbing to the summit of the highest 
hill on the opposite hank of the river, w^e had a fine 
view of the city. It was soon after sunrise, the- 
morning was dehghtful, and a gentle breeze wafted 
far away the clouds of smoke which had veiled the 
city the day before, and the dense volumes of smoke 
constantly rising from scores of tall chimneys and 
from furnaces. Below us was the great city, with 
its cathedral and churches, its palatial hotels and 
great factories, its elegant residences, imposing 
stores and warehouses, and busy throngs of people. 
Immediately at our feet was the Monongahela — an 
important vein of the great system near the greater 
one, a mile below. On either side of the bridge 
which spans the Monongahela, connecting the 
busiest portion of the city wdth the httle hamlet 
of Birmingham, for a long distance up and down 
the river, were numerous flat boats or barges laden 
almost to the water's edge with coal, destined for 
the southern market — coal in such prodigious quan- 
tities that it w^ould seem the hills had been 
excavated to mere shells, but the supply is a& 
abundant as ever, and issuing from the mouths of 
dark caverns are seen numberless carloads of coal 
to freight other barges which are to arrive from the 
river below. 

These barges are a pecuhar feature of river navi- 
gation. They are very powerful, hght draft, and 
with a capacity of holding from eight thousand to 
ten thousand tons of coal. The exports of this. 



42 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

product from Pittsburgh amount to forty or fifty 
millions bushels annually, of whicli Cincinnati con- 
sumes about one-tenth, and handles much of the 
remainder. The barges go down the river in charge 
of a tug, from twelve to twenty-five in a tow\ 
Both barges and tugs are built expressly for the 
coal trade, and the tugs are as noisy and trim craft 
as any to be seen in eastern rivers or harbors. 

The waters of the Ohio had been sw^ollen to a 
great height by recent rains, /s\^hich, when they 
come, pour in torrents adown the hillsides in rivu- 
lets and broad streams, causing a rise of from ten 
to thirty or forty feet in an almost incredible 
short period of time. Unusual activity prevailed. 
Heavily laden barges were constantly departing and 
empty ones taking their places. These coal boats 
are very liable to disaster, and not unfrequently 
sink before reaching their points of destination. 

The miners are generally foreigners. They are 
industrious and contented wdth their lot. To many 
of them the world is bounded by the neighboring 
hills on all sides but one, and that one the extremity 
of the dark mine. There are many families of the 
miners w^ho have never seen any other part of the 
world than that presented to view from the summit 
of the hills that their husbands, sons and brothers 
burrow year after year. Here they live and here 
they die, knowing and caring no more for the great 
world and its affairs than for the planets and what 
is there going on, beyond the advance or reduction 
of wages, w^liich is a matter of vital interest and 
importance to them. 

As a natural consequence of such isolation, these 

J 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 43 

people are very different from other men, and 
though generally ignorant of all else than coal 
mining, are hospitable and friendly, more especially 
to each other. 

The steamer will leave to-morrow, and we must 
seethe "beautiful river" which touches Ohio for 
four hundred and seventy miles. Sixty years ago 
a vast forest covered almost the entire country 
between Virginia and Lake Erie. Now it has a 
population of more than three millions and up- 
^wards of fifteen milhon acres of cultivated land. 



44 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 



CHAPTEE III. 

Navigation of the Upper Ohio — Scenei'y — Blennerhassett Island — The- 
Character of Aaron Burr — Arrival at Cincinnati — The City as it was 
and as it is — The Great Southern Railroad. 

The steamers that ascend the Oliio to Pittsburgh, 
the head of navigation, are mostly hght draught 
boats, from seventeen inches to two or three feet 
draught, and with a capacity of from four hundred 
to five hundred tons, with good passage accommo- 
dations. Manj'^ are built with a view to making 
quick time, so as to compete with the railroads, 
and these steamers excel those of former days in 
capacity, comfort, speed and safety. 

The fastest boat on the upper Ohio is the " Buck- 
eye State," which has made the distance from Cin- 
cinnati to Pittsburgh — about five hundred miles — 
in forty- three hours. The usual time for making 
the trip is from two to three days. The average 
speed of passenger packets, when in running trim, 
is ten miles per hour, against the stream, which is 
an advance of the speed of the first steamer on the 
river — the "New Orleans," which was built at 
Pittsburgh by Fulton in 1811, and which by tre- 
mendous puffing and asthmatic wheezing ran at the 
then astonishing rate of foiir miles an hour. These 
boats are often chosen for tours, excursions and bridal 
trips, and one may meet on board the most agreea- 
ble people and enjoy all the refinements and ele- 
gance common to first-class hotels. The trip on 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 45 

the " Fleetw^ood " w^as delightful from the hour of 
departure to our arrival in Cincinnati. 

The scenery along the river, upon both sides, is 
for the greater part picturesque, interesting, and 
often beautiful. Here a bluff that overhangs the 
waters, there a shelving bank of easy ascent, 
crowned with stately trees; cultivated and fertile 
lands, rich with the golden harvest ; now a grand old 
tree stands sole monarch of the field, — its gigantic 
trunk twined with the verdant vine, a fragile crea- 
ture, sheltered by the powerful arms of a forest 
giant; a copse amid whose branches are birds — 
some of beautiful plumage, some of song ; thriving 
villages, rural hamlets and the lone cottage on the 
river's bank; while in the back-ground of the pic- 
ture rise grand old hills on either side, u^jon whose 
summits are palatial homes, of various architectu- 
ral styles, half hidden by the trees; now in the 
distance having the semblance of castles of^olden 
times, with turrets, towers and battlements, and 
now a modest cottage with vineyards of great 
extent, just putting forth their tiny leaflets. 

We pass httle boats of fishermen, and ferry boats 
of primitive style ; an upward-bound steamer, that 
exchanges comphments with us by shrilly shrieks 
that echo among the distant hills; drifting logs, 
against the near approach of which the pilot must 
be vigilant; a coal-barge wreck; little islands 
clothed with verdure ; persons upon the banks sig- 
naling our passengers, — all a seemingly moving 
panorama of interest and beauty, as our steamer 
ghdes swdftly on. 

The high stage of water was favorable for'a quick 



46 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

passage, for on this river obstructions to navigation 
are numerous. In winter the boats are generally- 
frozen in for about two months, and quite a num- 
ber are lost by being crushed when the ice gorge 
breaks. In summer the water is often so shallow, 
that in places it is only fifteen inches deep, but by 
the rains of autumn, as by the melting snow^s of 
early spring, the river is swollen to a depth of fifty 
or sixty feet. The channel is continually shifting, 
forming new points and new^ islands, the former by 
washing aw^ay the shores, and the latter by the 
accumulated deposits during freshets. Other ob- 
structions are snags, wrecks, logs, etc., in the 
channel. These it is the business of a wrecking 
company under the direction of government inspec- 
tors to remove, and also to fix hghts and buoys at 
dangerous points. The government has at times 
constructed wang-dams for deepening the w^aters in 
shallow places, and most admirable contrivances 
these are, in the esteem of river navigators. One 
of the greatest obstructions to navigation on the 
Ohio are the bridges, by which it is spanned at 
numerous points along its entire length. Draw 
bridges have been tried in several instances, but 
these are not favored by either steamboat or rail- 
way management. The expense of a bridge is of 
course immense, if built high enough to allow the 
largest steamboats to pass under it at the time of 
the highest water. The bridge connecting Cincin- 
nati with Newport was raised thirty feet above its 
original height at a cost of several hundred thou- 
sand dollars. 
In the Ohio is an island, once the charming home 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 47 

of Blennerhasset — an Irish gentleman of large 
wealth, luxurious tastes and a noble, generous heart. 
His wife was a lady of high culture and refine- 
ment, with qualities of heart which made her home 
a very paradise. Here they enjoyed all that opu- 
lence could supply to gratify taste and insure hap- 
piness. The couple were happy and content, 
respected and beloved of those who knew them 
best. At length came to their home Aaron Burr, 
and by his wily arts brought to them utter ruin, as 
he always did to those who trusted him. The story 
is an old one, but none the less touching from oft 
recital. 

And who was Aaron Burr ? Let us briefly ana- 
lyze his real character, concerning wdiich there has 
been a diversity of pubhc opinion. Colonel Aaron 
Burr was not a great man, but he was a great villain. 
He was a daring speculator, a gambler in politics, a 
gambler in his amours, and a gambler in land, with 
all the coolness, shrewdness and suspicion of a 
speculator. We are not of those who acquit Burr 
of having been a traitor, but we vindicate his pro- 
ject touching Mexico, from the fact that Spain and 
the United States were on the brink of a war, their 
armies being within striking distance of each other, 
and it was only in case of a collision that Burr was 
to invade Mexico, the campaign having been actu- 
ally planned by General Wilkinson, the comman- 
der-in-chief of the American army. The enterprise 
was therefore really laudable, but the public opinion 
of that day connected Burr's project of invading 
Mexico with a design of separating the Western, or 
"Mississippi States," as they were called, from the 



48 IJFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Atlantic portion of the American Union. It was 
well known that he had ])uvchased. a large tract of 
land on the Ouachita — tlie Bastrop lands — and it 
was helieved that the emigrants who colonized that 
land were really designed not to act against Mexico, 
but to accomphsh a project for overturning the 
Union of States. The Bastrop purchase was then 
regarded as a ruse cle guerre. But at the present 
time it is doubtful, so artfully did Burr concoct his 
scheme, if this purchase was merely one of his num- 
erous land speculations, or if it was really designed 
for the purpose we have mentioned. The acquittal 
of Burr when tried for treason, at Richmond, 
amounts to nothing, for under the ruhng of Judge 
Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States, the 
jury could not convict the prisoner, and they said 
as much in their verdict. 

Judge Marshall knew the hatred felt by President 
Jefferson for Burr, and as he liimseK hated Jeffer- 
son with a bitterness known only to Virginian 
pohticians of that day, there is no doubt that he 
strained the law to suit his own personal and pohti- 
cal views. To accomphsh this end he seized upon 
the fact that Burr w^as not actually and personally 
present at the very place where the expedition was 
organized, and where it was laid in the bill of 
indictment, to charge that such being the fact, 
they should acquit the prisoner. The charge of 
Judge Marshall gave great offence, not only to the 
President, but the Senate flamed with indignation, 
and John Quincy Adams, then a Senator, intro- 
duced resolutions remedying that defect in our 
laws, and making a consi)irator guilty, absent or 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 49 

present, at the scene of operations. It is well 
known that the jury returned a defective verdict, 
that Burr immediately demanded a verdict of 
"guilty or not guilty," and that on this demand 
the jury rendered a verdict of " not guilty," in 
accordance with the imphed instructions of the 
presiding judge. In fact the trial was all a farce. 

While it is not absohitely certain that Burr was 
guilty of treason, those who knew^ him best be- 
heved it of him. One thing is certain, that he was 
utterly devoid of integrity; and the few persons 
who remained attached to him during his life were 
men not above suspicion themselves. Aaron Burr 
was destitute of honor. Washington doubted his 
integrity and discharged him from his military 
family. Jeft'erson detected him as a traitor and 
dishonest schemer. John Ran^oph, foreman of 
the jury, hated him, and in fact every man of char- 
acter, every man of honor and honesty who had 
the slightest dealings with Colonel Aaron Burr, as 
in the case of Jackson during his presidency, 
shunned his society and doubted his integrity. 
And even in his latter days, when by prudence and 
manly pride, he might have restored himself to the 
good opinion of the society which had discarded 
him, he was so deficient in self-respect that he en- 
deavored to converse with Henry Clay, when this 
gentleman had a public reception in New York on 
his return from Ghent, after the latter had declined 
to take his hand, and he meanly begged the favor 
of a private interview. 

What can we say of such a man, except that he 
was destitute of character, honor or pride? 

4 



50 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

Burr's appearance was striking from contrast 
with every one around him, for he wore his hair 
in a queue, and was dressed in small clothes. His 
height w^as about five feet six inches, his figure well 
made and w^ell knit, and his face very intellectual, 
having the Roman features w^ell defined. His air 
and hearing W' as that of perfect indifference to every 
thing around him. 

Since the days of Jefferson, the public opinion 
has greatly softened toward Colonel Burr. The 
loss of his daughter, the truly beautiful, gifted and 
good Theodosia, W'ife of Governor Alston, of South 
Carohna, by a tragical death at sea, for she w^as 
supposed to have been comi^elled to "walk the 
plank," w^hen the pilot boat "Rose in Bloom "w^as 
captured by pirates on her voyage from Charleston 
to New York, when added to the outburst of indig- 
nation which assailed him every w^here, aU over the 
country, seemed to be too much for human endur- 
ance, and would have broken the heart of thousands 
of men. 

But Burr was a man of iron. It is impossible to 
read his journal without being astonished at his 
fortitude, his indifference and endurance of every 
kind of indignity when he was actually skulking 
about the streets of Paris. He teUs us how he was 
compelled to change his usual route when walking 
the streets, because he owed an old woman three or 
four sous for cigars. Driven from London by the 
British ministry, he went to Paris. Driven from 
Paris by the French minister, he wanders to the 
Hague, and here he suddenly turns up the owner of 
thousands, won by some lucky speculation. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 51 

Such was Col. Aaron Bnrr, an officer of the Eevo- 
lutionary army, of acknowledged abihty, a lawyer of 
distinguished talents, Vice President of the United 
States, and fiUing the position with the highest 
respect of the Senate over which he presided dur- 
ing the first four years of Jefferson's administration, 
and enjoying the friendship of the most eminent 
men of the pohtical party which governed this coun- 
try for half a century. 

Burr commonly wrote his letters in cypher, and 
he traveled under assumed names, when both alter- 
natives were a needless exaggeration either of his. 
personal risk, or his importance. The incognito he 
strove to maintain on landing at Boston, and his 
disguised method of coming thence to New York, 
after his long exile in Europe, are in ludicrous con- 
trast to the public indifference when, ten days after,, 
he resumed the practice of the law in the city, en- 
tered with such melodramatic privacy. It was this 
mystery, this suspicion, this behef in the vilhany of 
mankind, which caused the world to visit him with 
his own judgment. 

But the steamer sounds the signal of near ap- 
proach to the city, the lights of which now ghmmer 
in the streets, and upon the landing. On our left is 
Newport and her sister city of Covington. The 
bustle on deck denotes* that the men are preparing 
to '' make fast ;" and now we have reached the shore 
of the good old city of Cincinnati. 

During the visit of Charles Dickens to this coun- 
try, in 1842, he wrote of Cincinnati : " It is a beau- 
tiful city, cheerful, thriving and animated. I have 
not often seen a place that commends itself so 



52 LIFE IN THE WILDS OP' AMEEICA, 

favorably and pleasantly to a stranger at the first 
glance, as this does; with its clean houses of red 
and white, its well paved roads and foot-ways of red 
tile. Nor does it become less preposessing on a 
closer acquaintance. The streets are broad and 
airy, the shops extremely good, the private resi- 
dences remarkable for their elegance and neatness. 
There is something of invention and fancy in the 
varying styles of these latter creations, which after 
the dull company of the steamboat is perfectly 
delightful. The disposition to ornament these 
pretty villas and render them attractive, leads to 
the culture of trees and flow^ers and the laying out 
of well-kept gardens, the sight of which to those 
who walk along the streets is inexpressibly refresh- 
ing and agreeable. I was quite charmed with the 
ap])earance of the tow^n and its adjoining suburb of 
Mount x\uburn, from which the city, lying in an 
amphitheatre of hills, forms a picture of remarka- 
ble beauty, and is seen to great advantage. The 
inhabitants of Cincinnati are proud of their city as 
one of the most interesting in America, and with 
good reason, for beautiful and thriving as it is now, 
and containing as it does a population of 50,000 
souls, but two-and-fifty years have passed away 
since the ground on which it stands — bought at 
that time for a few^ dollars — was a wild-w^ood, and 
its citizens were but a handful of dwellers in scat- 
tered log- huts upon the river's shore." 

Of the beautiful gardens of which Dickens wrote, 
few remain within the city's old boundaries, but 
every hillside and summit is crowned with the most 
inviting homes, and adorned with lovely gardens ; 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 53 

a large portion of the city's area then occupied as 
residence property, has been monopohzed by busi- 
ness, which year after year becomes more impera- 
tive and pressing in its demands — crowding dwellers 
backward, tearing down old homesteads, levehng 
pretty gardens, but giving in place thereof lofty 
and spacious edifices for trade and manuf actui'es ; 
and it requires no stretch of imagination to beheve 
that within the next thirty years the land extend- 
ing from the base of the hills that enclose the city, 
to the river, will be chiefly occupied in hke manner. 

Our drive through the charming environs, and 
more especially through the dehghtful villages of 
Chfton and Avondale, left in the mind the most 
lovely pictures for pleasant memories and compari- 
sons. Clifton — which has not yet lost its individu- 
ahty by incorporation with the great city, as Mount 
Auburn and several other neighboring villages have 
done — is built upon the highlands in proximity to 
the city, and yet sufficiently remote to insure pure 
air and entire freedom from the city's din. Its 
natural beauty, and the evidences of taste and 
refinement that burst upon the view on every side 
cannot fail to delight the visitor, who should take 
ample time to explore its beautiful avenues and 
lovely grounds, and view the many elegant man- 
sions, charming villas and pretty cottages, that con- 
stitute the village. The grounds of nearly every 
residence are spacious and elegant in their culture 
and decoration. 

The view of Cincinnati from Mount Auburn — a 
lovely little eyrie upon an elevated plateau — affords 
an idea of its compactness and its business facih- 



64 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ties. One can readily believe as he looks down 
upon the city and the eye follows the range of 
buildings stretching far to the westward, that the 
claim of her citizens to a population of nearly 
350,000, is not exaggerated ; but the atmosphere over 
the city, at any season of the year, is so laden wdth 
clouds of dust and smoke that its buildings do not 
appear to possess that whiteness and cleanliness 
for which Dickens gave credit to those he looked 
down upon. 

The view of the river, from this point, is delight- 
ful as it winds its course between the verdure 
crowned hills of Ohio and Kentucky, dotted here 
and there by a steamer, a tug-boat, or a fleet of 
coal-barges. At the levee, or " pubhc landing " are 
a few steamers, loading and discharging freight, and 
several more on board of which there is little indi- 
cation of business. Travehng by steamer up or 
down the Ohio is certainly dehghtful to those who 
enjoy interesting natural scenery and can afford the 
time, but there are few business people who do not 
prefer a speed of thirty or forty miles an hour to ten 
or twelve, when every hour is precious, so the pas- 
senger-trade on the river has fallen off and is year 
by year becoming less. 

From our point of view, we look dow^n upon Cov- 
ington and Newport, and listen to the music of the 
band that reaches us from the mihtary post of the 
latter city. 

Passing down the hill from Mt. Auburn — upon 
which there is an incline railway — we leave scenes 
of beauty to find those of greater interest to busi- 
ness men. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 55 

The public parks, of which there are several, are 
spacious, beautifully laid out and attractively 
adorned ; Eden, Lincoln, and Washington are the 
favorite oases of this busy city. There are few cities 
so highly favored with delightful drives and perfect 
road-ways. The macadamised avenue in the west- 
ern part of the city is a favorite resort on a sum- 
mer's evening, especially for those who drive fine 
horses. A drive to Clifton, Avondale, College-Hill, 
Wahiut Hills, the Grandin Road, the River Road — 
anywdiere in the charming suburbs is exceedingly 
agreeable ; the extensive vineyards, the numberless 
gardens seeming to vie with each other in pro- 
ductiveness, beauty and fragrance, the palatial resi- 
dences with pretty lawns, variety of shade trees and . 
flowering shrubs, grassy slopes and terraces, wild- 
wood groves, hedges, paths, hills and streams — all 
scenes of such beauty as cannot fail to impress the 
visitor most favorably and assure him of the general 
thrift, taste and culture of the people of Cincinnati. 

The Industrial Exposition, which has become an 
estabhshed institution, is increasing in its attrac- 
tions with every passing year. Cincinnati is em- 
phatically a manufacturing city. Its many facto- 
ries, foundries, and workshops employ thousands of 
workmen and represent many millions of invested 
capital. The opening of the great Southern Rail- 
road was a grand event for Cincinnati. The coal 
fields of Alabama alone are calculated to yield 
thirty-two and a half billions of tons. More than 
enough to supply the entire world, at the present 
rate of consumption, for two thousand years ! The 
brown hematite ores in the northwest of the State, 



6ij LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

in juxtaposition with the pure, hard bituminous- 
coals of the Warrior field, and the red and brown 
hematites of Central Alabama, adjacent to the Ca- 
haba coal, justifies the prediction that this State 
alone will in the future produce annually more iron 
than is now made in England, Scotland and Wales 
combined, and at less cost. Tennessee has more 
coal than Alabama, with iron ore in close proximity^ 
superior in (puility and inexhaustible in (luantity; 
Kentucky and Virginia each have more coal than 
Tennessee and Alabama together, and more than 
England, Wales and Scotland ever had, and a larger 
area of coal than the great coal-producing State of 
Pennsylvania, while their ores are rich and abund- 
ant. Howwase and far-seeing was it in Cincinnati 
to project the Southern Railroad into this incalcul- 
ably rich region, and offer her own subscription of 
ten milhons of dollars toward its construction. It 
is the most magnificent prize that any city ever at- 
tempted to win. 

" Starting at Cincinnati, it passes through seven 
successive counties in the very heart of Kentucky, 
and through her very best coal field, crossing the 
Cumberland river at the mouth of the South Fork^ 
in the midst of the very choicest iron making coals 
of Kentucky, and her richest lumber and iron ore 
region, and pushing southw-ard further, it taps the 
vast coal centre and iron region of Tennessee, Ala- 
bama and Georgia at Chattanooga, thus invading 
the mineral and lumber magazines of the South. 
This road will drain a belt at least ten miles wide, 
on either side, for its entire length — it would proba- 
bly be nearer the mark to say that with its branches. 



AND WONDERS OF THE ^yEST. 57 

it will drain twenty miles on either side — and the 
bulk of this trade will go to Cincinnati. Along the 
trade belt of this road, innnigration will swarm. 
Germans, Irish, Welsh, Scotch, will push south- 
ward through Cincinnati, and the products of their 
labor will reach that city by direct and cheap trans- 
portation." 

On West Fourth Street, w^e saw the old residence 
of Capt. C. F. Hall, the Arctic navigator. It is a 
very plain structure on the north side of the street, 
between Main and Walnut. Capt. Hall, during his 
residence here, established a daily newspaper — the 
"Penny Press," but like many another new^spaper 
man failed to find the enterprise profitable, and the 
publication w^as soon discontinued. A short dis- 
tance from Capt. Hall's residence was the law-office 
of Hon. Thomas Corwin, whom none who ever 
knew him will ever forget. " Tom Corwin," as 
everybody called him, w^as the best "stump speaker" 
in America, and the only one whom Henry Clay 
confessed to finding a pow^erful antagonist and had 
a dread of meeting in debate. 

The educational institutions, fire department, 
news journals, public library, theatres, and other in- 
stitutions of Cincinnati are equal in excellence to 
those of any city of its size in the world. 



58 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTER IV. 

A Trip Down the River— Burial Place of President Harrison — The 
Wonders of Mammoth Cave. 

At noon on the loveliest day of the season, we 
proceeded to the public landing to take passage on 
board the steamer "United States," for Louisville. 
We arrived at the landing just in season, although 
it seemed from the great amount of merchandise 
yet to be carried on board, that we should be de- 
tained for hours. Our carriage went shding side- 
wise down the steep bank, at the imminent risk of 
overturning into the water, but the driver under- 
stood his business too well for that, and we were 
soon on deck of one of the finest steamers on the 
river ; the work of receiving freight of all sorts went 
brisldy on in the most primitive manner, all being 
done by the strong arms of men without the aid of 
machinery, and at the moment announced for 
leaving, all was completed; the signal was given, 
the hnes cast off, and the steamer started on her 
trip down the river, with a reasonable prospect of 
reaching Louisville at an early hour in the evening. 

The time made in 1818, by the G-eneral Pike, which 
was then considered an unrivalled si)ecimen of river 
craft, in coming from Louisville to Cincinnati, a 
distance of 150 miles, was one day and sixteen 
hours. The General Lytle, which has since ex- 
ploded, made the same distance a few years ago, 
in six hours and fifteen minutes. The steamer 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 59 

United States makes it every day in seven hours, 
including the time occupied in eight or ten land- 
ings on the way. Formerly the largest boats were 
only of 200 or 300 tons, while now they have a ton- 
nage of 1,300 to 1,600. Cincinnati is interested 
in river trade to the extent of about ten millions of 
dollars annually. Lines of packets run from here 
to New Orleans, Memphis and other points on 
the Mississippi. The line to St. Louis has been 
abandoned, owing to railroad competition, but will 
probably be restored. There was formerly a line 
from Cincinnati to the Red River, but this has been 
withdrawn. Old lines are from time to time dropped 
and new ones established. The steamboat interest 
in this country is immense. The total valuation of 
steamers belonging to the United States, is now 
seven hundred million dollars. In the West, St. 
Louis takes the lead, with Cincinnati next. Steam 
navigation in the West has been attended with 
many disasters, but these are diminishing every 
year, owing to the introduction of safety appliances 
of various kinds. 

The river rises here about fifty feet, at some sea- 
sons of the year, but in summer is often only two 
or three feet deep, consequently the passenger 
packets are constructed for side-wheel or stern- 
wheel steamers of light draught. 

Among the passengers was a large and portly gen- 
tleman — a backwoods Yankee — who seemed to be 
very greatly distressed in mind. If a man has any 
social quahties worth mentioning, the deck of a 
steamer is the place of all others to disclose the 
fact. I formed the opinion that our fellow passen- 



60 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ger of avoirdupois extraordinary was the most un- 
social being I had ever met, when I observed his 
curt manner toward those who would have engaged 
him in conversation and caused him to forget his^ 
troubles, at least for the hour. When those so 
repulsed turned away from him, he approached me, 
and then I observed that he had two life-preservers 
on — one about his neck, and the other about his 
waist — which ornamentation did not enhance his 
personal attractions, if he had any. The idea of 
such extraordinary precautions at noon day, on 
board a staunch steamer upon a river so shallow 
that the boat could little more than " rub and go," 
was simply ridiculous. 

" Do you think anything '11 happen ?" he asked 
in a tone of anxiety, but as I was at a loss to com- 
prehend his meaning, he added — "Anything '11 
bust ?" I rather thought not, as the straps about 
his waist seemed to be quite secure, how^ever I 
examined them. 

" I don't mean these things — I mean the biler. 
Is there any immediate danger ?" Again I could 
not see any evidence of peril. 

"Ah, I thank you," said he, breathing a sigh of 
rehef, and the cloud disappeared from his round 
and rosy face, which now^ beamed like the rising 
sun. His mental agony had been the fear that 
" something would bust," and the consoling assur- 
ance of safety was as prolific of good as any chari- 
table thing could be. 

" I always w ear these preservers when on the 
water, for you see accidents might happen — some- 
thing might bust, and it would be dreadful to be 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST, 61 

•compelled to leap overboard unprotected, you 
know." I knew^; but notwithstanding my assur- 
ances of safety, no sooner did the steamer attempt 
to make a landing anywhere, and sound her shrilly 
signal, than my j)onderous friend would start to 
his feet, frantic with alarm, exclaiming — 

" There it goes ! I knew it would ! Beg pardon, 
I knew you were wrong. Something's bust !" And 
not till we were on our way again were his fears 
quieted. During the entire trip, something was 
going to "bust," or had "busted." 

The Adew from the steamer's deck is delightful. 
On the left rise the green hills of Kentucky, at 
whose base are giant trees skirting the shore and 
half concealing the fishermen's cabins, and on the 
right are extensive vineyards which promise purple 
clusters in great abundance. 

On the Ohio shore, in an old neglected cemetery, 
is the grave of President Harrison, with neither 
monument nor headstone, and overgrown with rank 
verdure. Surely such neglect is very far from being 
creditable to a great people whom the old hero and 
patriot long served so nobly and so well. A suita- 
ble monument upon the spot would attract the eye 
and win a tribute from the thousands who pass up 
and down the river. 

The next day after our arrival at Louisville, we 
directed our course to the locahty of the Mammoth 
Cave, which we explored as thousands from both 
sides of the water do every summer, as hundreds 
of thousands have done, to wonder at its immensity 
and its features. 

On the border of an unproductive tract of land 



62 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

known as the Barrens, in the southwestern part of 
Kentucky, upon Green Eiver, in a corner of Edmon- 
son County, about one hundred miles from Louis- 
ville and sixty from Harrodsburg Springs, gapes 
the gloomy door of the largest underground terri- 
tory in the world. 

It contains, according to the best authorities, two 
hundred and twenty-six avenues, forty-seven domes, 
numerous rivers, eight cataracts, and twenty-three 
pits. The aggregate length of the various corri- 
dors is estimated at several hundred miles. Those 
who propose a journey thither must be prepared for 
"rough, uneven w^ays, that draw out the miles and 
make them wearisome;" the Barrens being simply 
a vast reach of rolling knobs and hiUs, once bare 
and profitless prairies, but now overgrowTi by dw^arf 
oaks and beeches, together with such vines and 
shrubs as are capable of rooting themselves in 
baked and dewless earth. 

In the immediate neighborhood of the cave a 
more agreeable aspect of things is presented — green 
park-like openings — also patches of fine wood-land, 
hickory, chestnut, and elm ; and in Cave Hollow, a 
ravine widening into a dehghtful valley, the scenery 
becomes exceedingly beautiful. 

This vaUey is bounded by rocky walls, capped 
with sand stone, precipitous in parts, in parts piled 
in loose masses, along the base of which grow wal- 
nuts, catalpas, pawpaws, and maples; while rooted 
among the rocks, and clambering over them, are 
weeds, brambles, and flowers, of brilhant colors and 
wild luxuriance of growth. 

Mammoth Cave was discovered by a hunter in 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 63^ 

1809, and two years later saltpetre works were 
established within it. The war of 1812 cut off the 
foreign supply of this article and increased the 
demand in this country ; business within the cave 
was very brisk until the close of the war, when the 
works were abandoned. 

It is believed that the formation of the Cave was 
due to the chemical and mechanical action of water 
upon certain earthy substances below the surface. 
Limestone, chemically known as carbonate of hme, 
through which the whole course of the cave is 
located, is insoluble in pure water, but is soluble to 
a degree in water charged with carbonic acid gas. 
Every one is familiar with the phenomena of hill- 
side springs, and is aware of the fact that these 
springs are produced by smaU streams of water flow- 
ing through the crevices of rock and finding an out- 
let. Imagine such a stream flowing through a hill 
composed of salt, sugar or some other readily solu- 
ble material, and it will be seen that it would quickly 
form for itself a channel of considerable magnitude. 
If in addition to the solvent action of the water, the 
channel thus formed should become the bed of a 
rapid stream, the mechanical effect of the water 
would greatly increase and otherwise modify the re- 
sult. If this stream instead of passing through a 
very soluble material, were to pass through one that 
was soluble only to a very shght extent, the final 
result would be the same, but it would require a 
longer time. Such is the case with the cave. The 
constant trickhng of water strongly impregnated 
with carbonic acid gas through the cre^dces of the 
rock, gradually wore for itself a channel of sufficient 



LIFE IN THF, WILDS OF AMEKICA, 




SCENEKV IN KKM'l VK\ 



size for the mechanical action 
of the current of water to do 
still greater execution. 

The Mammoth Ca^'e is the dry bed of what was 
once a great subterranean river. Imagine a rocky 
river with all its branches, its narrow places, where 
the w^ater flows swiftly; its broad, deep places where 
the water has a more gentle current; that from 
some cause the river had been drained, and you 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 65 

iave an idea of the appearance of the cave when it 
ceased to be the bed of a flowing stream, and as a 
large portion of it appears at the present time. 
There is a striking resemblance of portions of this 
dry river bed to Green River, of which it was evi- 
dently once a part and with which it even now com- 
municates. 

The upper portions of the cave were first formed, 
and as by the gradual lowering of the bed of Green 
River, these became dry, the lower parts were formed, 
and are being formed. The changes that have 
occurred wdthin the cave since it ceased to be 
the bed of a flowing stream are chiefly due to 
chemical action, in the formation of the pendants 
and columns termed stalactites and stalagmites, 
and the exquisitely beautiful crystahzations of sul- 
phate of lime or gypsum which occur in some parts 
of the cave, and also to the falling of huge masses 
of rock from the walls and roof. Some of the rocks 
evidently fell while the water still flowed through 
its avenues, as the rocks themselves and the greater 
masses from which these were detached are worn 
smooth by the action of the water. Other rocks 
have fallen since and are unmarked by water. The 
terminus of the main cave is formed by the falhng 
of rocks from the roof that have entirely obstructed 
the passage. 

Stalactites are pendants from the roof, resembhng 
an icicle. The earth forming the roof serves as a 
filter for the water, which slowly falls in drops, and 
which being impregnated with carbonic acid, dis- 
solves a quantity of the hme in its passage through 
it. As it hangs, a part of the acid being gaseous, 

5 



66 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

escapes, and a corresponding portion of carbonate 
of lime is deposited. In the formation of stalac- 
tites, it is necessary that the water should drop 
very slowly; a stream, however small, would utterly 
prevent the formation. Stalagmites are exactly the 
reverse of stalactites in their position ; they attain 
a greater or lesser height, according to the quantity 
of carbonate of hme which falls. These are formed 
where water, dropping very slowly from above, 
remains for a short time upon the floor ere it flows 
away. In composition they are identical, and are 
often formed simultaneously, the same drojD impart- 
ing a portion of its substance to both. It will be 
seen, therefore, that the process is a very slow one. 
There are stalactite columns in Mammoth Cave 
said to be thirty feet in circumference, that must 
have been formed as above described — first a minute 
particle, then a pendant rod, then a pillar of great 
proportions. The mind is bewildered in endeavoring 
to conceive the duration of time necessary for the 
growth of such a mass in such a manner ; and no 
reasoning being can look upon one of these ancient 
columns, and watch the little drop of water that 
is faUing in just the same measured rate that other 
drops have been falling for thousands of years, and 
not realize the insignificance of the duration of 
human hfe, and the instabihty of the works of man, 
compared with these works of Nature and the period 
of their formation. Since the first drop fell, nations 
have risen, attained their prime and passed away; 
the Mound Builders may have wondered at the 
spectacle and vainly sought to compute the time 
when the first formative process began ; wars have 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 67 

desolated the fairest lands; man has plodded on 
his way from the cradle to the tomb, loving, 
hating, sorrowing and rejoicing; the most won- 
derful changes have occurred in the history of 
earth, and all the ages, the centuries and milleniums 
of time requisite for all these in Nature's laboratory 
has been forming the wondrous creation — the sta- 
lactites and stalagmites of this vast cavern; drop 
after drop, the work has proceeded, until it has built 
a monument for time more wonderful than the pyra- 
mids. 

During the summer, the air constantly flows out 
of the cave; during the winter it flows in, — the 
phenomena being due to the difl'erence in tempera- 
ture between the external and internal atmosphere. 
A quarter of a mile from the mouth of the cave, the 
temperature is ever the same, the therm omatsT 
constantly standing at 59 degrees. Within tho 
cave, everything is changeless. Summer and win- 
ter, day and night come and go, but give no indi- 
cations of change. The air is remarkably pure, 
with a lesser proportion of carbonic acid gas than 
that of the surrounding country. 

The entrance to the cave is about a quarter of a 
mile from the hotel, and is reached by passing along 
a httle, wild, rocky foot-path only wide enough in 
some places for a person to pass, across bridges, 
down steps built of wood or cut in the rock, through 
dense timber and luxuriant vegetation that over- 
hang and shade the path. Altogether it is wild 
and romantic enough to satisfy the most ardent 
admirer of nature. It may be supposed that a path 
trodden by two or three thousand persons every 



68 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

season for many years, would be worn broad and 
smooth, or at least that the undergro^vth w^ould be 
cut away, but it remains in its primitive wnldness, 
and a casual observer would imagine it but a rustic 
way for a few country farmers. 

Having arrived at the entrance of the cave, the 
guard furnished us with lighted lamps, which on 
first entering, seemed wholly insufficient for the 
purpose designed, but after a short time our eyes 
became accustomed to the dim hght, and objects 
were plainly discern able. As we proceeded, the 
Toof of the cave became lower, and for some dis- 
tance it was only seven feet in height. Through 
this part, the saltpetre miners had collected the 
loose stones that encumbered the route, and used 
them in the erection of a wall on each side, leaving 
but a narrow passage-way — the " Narrow^s " — at the 
termination of which there are two passages lead- 
ing in different directions. Here is the Eotunda, 
one hundred and seventy-five feet broad and one 
hundi*ed feet high, — an immense room, nearly cir- 
cular with a dome-like ceihng of a single piece of 
gray stone, on which hang bats in great numbers. 
The guide lighted oiled paper, and we were thus 
enabled to see the dome, which receded almost 
beyond the reach of vision. On either side, a dark, 
mysterious opening indicated the entrances to other 
galleries. 

The floor of the Rotunda was cumbered with the 
remains of the w^ood-work used by the saltpetre 
miners, and altogether presented a desolate and 
wierd appearance. 

On the right of the Rotunda is Audubon's avenue, 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 69 

which extends about half a mile, and terminates in 
a group of stalactites. Taking the left hand open- 
ing, we again entered the main cave, which is here 
about sixty feet wide and forty feet high. Along the 
center were the vats used by the miners. All the 
timber connected with these is remarkably sound. 
The attention of the visitor is next directed to the 
Chffs of Kentucky Eiver, a large overhanging wall 
of rock said to resemble those chffs. After passing 
the Pigeon Boxes,— httle niches in the wall, the 
passage extends to the width of eighty feet. The 
"Methodist Church" is next seen, the pulpit rock 
being twenty-five feet high. Rehgious services 
have been held here. Near this is the Water Clock 
— a spring in the wall, that keeps a constant drop- 
ping of water into a pool below, with the regularity 
of the ticking of a clock. A little further on we 
ascended a flight of steps and entered the Gothic 
Arcade. The first object that there attracts the at- 
tention is a solitary large stalactite, curiously gnarled 
and knotted, and called the Post Oak. The passage 
is about forty feet wide, and from eight to sixteen 
feet high. The ceiling is flat and of a grayish color. 

A portion of the Gothic Arcade is called the Reg- 
ister Room — from the names of visitors inscribed 
upon its walls. The patent-medicine man has been 
here before us, for there is the inscription " Take — 
Bitters," beneath which, some irreverent wag has 
written, " And prepare for death." 

The Register room leads to the Gothic Chapel. 
This is a room of considerable extent in which there 
are many stalactites of great size. 
grand and beautiful. 



70 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

In the vicinity of Gothic Cliapel is the Blacksmith 
Shop — so called from the number of small black 
stalagmites which cover the floor. Near by is 
^' Bonaparte's Breastworks," a long ledge of rock 
that has been separated from the wall and has the 
appearance of newly erected breastworks. A little 
beyond this is the " Old Arm Chair," which consists 
of a mass of stalactites and stalagmites having, by 
a httle stretch of the imagination, the outhnes of a 
very comfortable chair. The back is a httle stiff, 
and the seat not at all inviting, but the traveler 
must not be too fastidious. On the left is a curious 
stalagmite, formed by the dropping of water upon a 
projecting point of rock called the " Elephant's 
Head. ' ' A stalactite forms the trunk, but elephant's 
above and below ground are quite unhke in appear- 
ance. 

On the right, a point of rock jutting out sixteen 
feet over the brink of a dark pit seventy feet deep, 
is known as " Lover's Leap." The fool has yet to 
arrive who will perform the exploit of leaping into 
it. A narrow, winding crevice in the rock, twenty 
feet long and fifty feet high, and with a steep dechv- 
ity, is called "Elbow Crevice," as it is too narrow 
for elbow room. " Napoleon's Dome " is formed 
by a concave rock overhead, fifty feet liigh and 
thirty in diameter. Wherever these domes are 
found, corresponding cavities are found beneath 
them. Directly below the " Blacksmith Shop " is 
the " Cinder Pile," a collection of the same black 
stalagmites seen in the upper room ; these rest upon 
a bed of mud. Li immediate proximity to the Cin- 
der Pile is Lake Purity — a shallow pool of clear and 



AND WONDERS OF THE "WEST. 71 

pure water. The Arcade extends half a mile further 
— its length being a mile and a half ; at the termi- 
nus is a dome and a cascade. 

We now retraced our steps and re-entered the 
main cave — arriving at the "Grand Arch." Passing 
under a long archway we came to immense masses 
of rock, standing on edge as they had fallen from 
above and unpleasantly suggestive as we glanced 
from them to the roof and observed other prodig- 
ious rocks, securely or insecurely imbedded in the 
earth, only waiting for that other little di'op of 
water to send them thundering down. The floor 
in which the fallen rocks, from eight to ten feet 
high, are firmly cemented, was formerly soft mud, 
but this has now become as hard as the rocks them- 
selves. The prints of the hoofs of the oxen that were 
formerly used in the cave, the wheel tracks and 
other marks are as distinct as if made but yesterday ; 
so will they remain for all time. 

Upon the right is the " Giant's Coffin," forty feet 
long, eight feet high, one sohd piece of gray rock, 
having the shape of a coffin. The visitor experi- 
ences a sense of awe and subhmity in gazing upon 
this wonderful formation. It rests upon an elevated 
stand; the weird appearance of surrounding objects 
by the dim light of lamps, illuminating a little 
space in the thick darkness, the utter silence, 
broken only by the flitting of bats or the falling of 
grains of sand, the massive walls of rock that closed 
us in, all were most impressive. 

At this point we again left the main cave. Pas- 
sing around the foot of the "Coffin" and up the 
other side, we entered a very narrow aperture in 



72 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the rock which led to the "Deserted Chamber" 
and thence into the "Wooden-bowl Cave." It is 
said that the first white man who ever entered the 
latter cave found therein a wooden bowl. 

In one of the halls several mummies were long aga 
found among the recesses of the rock, and a curious 
piece of bark-matting, the rehc of some Indian 
Queen, perhaps, is still shown. The bodies seemed 
to have undergone no process of embalming, but 
were nevertheless, in a perfect state of preserva- 
tion; so dry is the air, and so strongly impregnated 
with nitre, as to prevent decomposition. What has 
been done with these mummies, I have been unable 
to ascertain with any certainty. One is reported to 
be in the British Museum, and another to have been 
burned up in the Museum at Cincinnati. 

An elaborate description of one of these ancient 
sleepers has been published by a scientific gentle- 
man who visited the cave in 1813, from which the 
subjoined is an abridgment : In digging saltpetre 
earth, a flat rock w^as met with bj^ the workmen, a 
httle below the earth's surface; this stone was 
raised, and was about four feet wide and as many 
long; beneath it was a square excavation about 
three feet deep, and as many in length and width. 
In this small subterranean chamber sat in solemn 
silence one of the human species, a female, with her 
wardrobe and ornaments placed at her side. The 
body was in perfect preservation, and sitting erect ; 
the arms were folded up, the hands laid across the 
bosom, and the wrists were tied together with a 
small cord ; around the body were wrapped two deer- 
skins. These skins appeared to have been dressed 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST, TS' 

by some mode with which the present generation 
is unacquainted. The hair of the skins was cut off 
near the surface, and the skins ornamented with the 
imprints of vines and leaves, sketched in a sub- 
stance perfectly white. Outside of this wrapping was 
a large sqiiare sheet, either woven or knit. The fa- 
bric was the inner bark of a tree, supposed to be the 
hme-tree. In its texture and appearance it resem- 
bled the South Sea Islands matting ; this sheet en- 
veloped the whole body. The hair on the head was- 
cut off within an eighth of an inch of the skin, ex- 
cept near the neck, where it was an inch long ; it 
was in color a dark red. The teeth were white and 
perfect, and no blemish on the body, except a wound 
between the ribs near the back-bone, and an injury 
in one of the eyes. The finger and the toe nails 
were perfect, and quite long; the features were 
regular. The length of the bones of the arm, from 
the elbow to the wrist joint, was ten-and-a-half 
inches. The whole frame gave evidence of a figure 
five feet and ten inches in height. At the time it 
w^as discovered, the body weighed but fourteen 
pounds, and w^as perfectly dry ; but on being exposed 
to the atmosphere, it gained in weight, by absorb- 
ing dampness, four pounds. 

It has been thought curious that so large a body 
should weigh so httle, as many human skeletons of 
nothing but bone, exceed this weight. Recently, 
however, some experiments made in Paris, have de- 
monstrated the fact of the human body being re- 
duced to ten pounds, by being exposed to a heated 
atmosphere for a long period of time. The color of 
the skin was dark, not black, and the flesh hard and 
dry upon the bones. 



74 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

At the side of the body lay a pair of moccasins, 
a knapsack, and a reticule. The moccasins were 
made of wove or knit bark, like the wrapper I have 
described ; around the top was a border for strength 
and ornament. These denoted feet of small size, 
and differed but httle in shape from the moccasins 
worn by the Northern Indians. The knapsack was 
of wove, or knit bark, with a deep, strong border 
around the top, and was about the size of the knap- 
sacks used by soldiers. The workmanship was neat, 
and the fabric such as would do credit to a manu- 
facturer of the present day. The reticule was also 
made of woven bark, in shape like a horseman's 
valise, and opening its full length on the top ; the 
whole laced up and secured by a cord which passed 
through loops attached to either side. The edges 
of the top were strengthened by deep, fancy bor- 
ders. The articles contained in the reticule and 
knapsack were as follows: one head-cap, made of 
woven or knit bark, without border, and of the 
shape of the plainest night-cap ; seven head-dresses, 
made of the quills of large birds, and put together 
after the manner of fans, somewhat enabling the 
wearer to present a beautiful display of feathers. 
These are represented as very splendid ; they would, 
it is said, form magnificent ornaments for the female 
head at the present day. Several hundred strings 
of beads, consisting of hard seeds, smaller than 
hemp-seeds. They were of a brown color, strung 
on three-twined thread, and tied up in bunches as 
strings of coral beads are tied up by merchants. 
The red hoofs of fawns on a string, supposed to 
have been worn as a necklace. They were about 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



75 



twenty in number, and were thought to have been 
emblematic of innocence. The claw of an eagle, 
with a cord passed through it, so as to form a pen- 
dant for the neck. The jaw of a bear, designed to 
be worn in the same manner. Two rattlesnake 
skins ; one of these had fourteen rattles ; they were 
neatly folded up. Some vegetable colors done up 
in leaves. A small bunch of deer sinews. Several 
bunches of white thread and twine. Seven needles, 
some of which were of horn, and some of bone; 
they were smooth, and appeared to have been much 
used. The top of one of these needles was hand- 
somely scolloped, but none of them had any eyelets 
to receive the thread. A hand-piece, made of deer- 
skin, and designed to protect the hand in the use of 
the needles, instead of a thimble. Two whistles, 
about eight inches long, and made of cane. 

In the various articles which constituted the orna- 
ments of the mummy, there were no metalhc sub- 
stances ; and in the make of her dress there was no 
evidence of the use of other machinery than the 
bone and horn needles. No warlike arms were 
found among the collection. 

Of the race to which she belonged, we can know 
nothing; and as to conjecture, the reader of this 
account can judge for himself. The cause of the 
preservation of the body, ornaments, and dress, is 
owing to the nitrate of lime that impregnates the 
atmosphere of the cave, and the entire absence of 
moisture and heat. There is no such thing as putre- 
faction or decomposition possible in the cave. 

The features of this exhumed member of the 
human family much resembled those of a tall, hand- 
some American woman. 



70 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

A narrow aperture on the right admits the visitor 
to a very steep and insecure flight of steps, known 
as the " Steps of Time," just beyond which flows 
a pure spring. Passing from this the party pro- 
ceeded through a long passage, the roof of which 
forms a double arch, smooth and as white as if it- 
had been newly hme-washed. 

On the right is a pit, nearly a hundred feet deep^ 
and twenty feet across. The light from the burn- 
ing oiled paper which the guide held, gave a view 
of the rugged outlines of the place, and another 
burning paper being thrown into the pit, the black- 
ened walls of the gaping chasm could be seen for 
the entire depth. " Minerva's Dome" on the left 
is fifty feet high and ten feet wide. Near this^ 
place is the " Bottomless Pit." To the first break 
in the descent, the distance is one hundred feet,, 
then there is a gentle incline and the pit extends 
to a depth of seventy-five feet further, as frightful 
a chasm as can w^ell be imagined. Immediately 
over the "Bottomless Pit" is Shelby's Dome, w^hich 
is sixty feet in height. From the " Hall " on the 
other side of the Bottomless Pit, Pensacola Avenue 
extends for nearly a mile. The chief objects of 
interest along the avenue are the " Sea Turtle " — a 
mass of rock that has fallen from the roof; " Snow- 
ball Arched Way," " Mat's Arcade," with four ter- 
races between the floor and roof, extending the- 
entire length of the arcade ; a clumx^ of stalactites 
called "Pine Apple Bush," and Angehca's Grotto, 
which is really beautiful, as its walls are covered 
with white crystals. 

On re-entering the " Deserted Chamber" the party 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 77 

■descended another flight of steps and entered the 
" Lahyrinth, " a curious winding passage through 
the rocks. Ascending a few steps, we came out on 
a small landing, upon one side of which was an 
irregular aperture, through which the party looked, 
in accordance with the instructions of the guide, 
who now disappeared, on his way to the opposite 
side to hght his oiled paper. The dim hglit of the 
lamps revealed an immense void — no top, no bot- 
tom, no hmit— nothing but impenetrable darkness. 
It is impossible to describe the sensation of wonder 
and awe which was experienced. A moment later, 
however, a bright Hght flashed above, and we were 
thus enabled to distinguish a vast dome, two hun- 
dred feet high and sixty feet wide. The aperture 
through which the party looked, is situated mid- 
way between the top and bottom. Water was 
constantly dropping from the upper part of the 
dome and falling upon the rocks below. Small 
stalagmites studded the bottom. The opposite 
wall resembled an immense curtain, hanging in 
loose, graceful folds. 

Again entering the main cave at the " Giant's 
Coffin," the party continued their explorations. 
Three-quarters of a mile from the entrance, the 
cave bends at an acute angle, not far from which are 
several stone houses, built nearly thirty years ago as 
resorts for consumptives. A greater folly than such 
an undertaking there could not be. Of course 
human beings require the sunhght and will lan- 
guish and die without it, and of course the experi- 
ment was soon abandoned. One of these is now 
appropriated for a registry room. 



78 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

A little further on the party arrived at the " Star 
Chamber," one of the most interesting places in the 
cave. It is a room seventy -five feet high and fifty 
feet broad; the roof of v^hich is covered with a 
layer of black gypsum. A glance upw^ard seemingly 
enabled us to see the starry firmament. It was a 
grand optical illusion. The roof had the appear- 
ance of the sky at night, studded watli innumerable 
stars, forming groups and constellations; hght, 
fleecy clouds seemed to float over a part of the 
heavens, partially veihng some of the stars. The 
rocky walls did not in the least diminish the effect, 
they but served to render the scene more wild and 
weird, more wonderful. It seemed as if we had 
emerged from the cave and entered some rocky 
pass or deep canyon at midnight. Seating our- 
selves and giving up to the guide the torches we 
had carried, he went to the opposite side and dis- 
appeared from sight behind a jutting ledge of rock ; 
the hght which he held unseen to us, shone upon 
the canopy rendering the illusion complete. " Some- 
times," said the guide from his hiding place, "a 
storm comes, and hides the stars;" saying this, he 
gradually withdrew the hghts, causing a dark and 
heavy shadow to creep up the opposite w^aU and 
across the sky, enveloping all things with utter 
darkness. Bringing the lamps nearer, the deep 
gloom vanished and the stars shone as clearly as 
before. Again the experiment was repeated; aU 
was blackest night — not a single ray relieved the 
gloom. We were breathless. What if a fatal acci- 
dent should occur to our guide! There was the 
silence of death, the dense darkness of the grave,, 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 79 

that was almost palpable — a silence and darkness 
painful to the senses. In such rayless night and 
perfect stillness, persons have been lost within this 
cave, and with only the flitting bat for company, 
and with the mocking echoes of the cave to answer 
their piteous cries, httle wonder that in such cases 
insanity has quickly ensued. 

The guide approached with the lighted torch. 
How welcome was the hght — even one so poor as 
this ! It is worth a trip to the cave to learn to fully 
appreciate the blessing of hght, which too often 
those esteem so little who have never known its 
loss. 

The cave extends three miles further, terminating 
in great masses of rock that have fallen from the 
roof. Immediately adjacent to the Star Chamber 
is the " Floating Cloud " room, a quarter of a mile 
long, and of the same height and breadth of the 
former. The roof presents the appearance of float- 
ing clouds, a phenomenon caused by the scaling off, 
in places, of the black gypsum, uncovering the 
white sulphate of soda beneath. The stars, seen 
from the " Star Chamber " are due to the same 
cause — by the crystalization of this salt through 
httle points in the ceihng. These crystals, w^hen 
illuminated by the lamp-hght, ghtter and sparkle 
hke real stars. 

StiU beyond is " Proctor's Arcade " — a straight 
channel, one hundred feet wide, forty-five feet high 
and three-quarters of a mile in extent. This leads 
to " Wright's Eotunda," a room four hundred feet 
in diameter and covered with an immense stone, 
perfectly flat and about forty feet above the floor. 




KENTUKCY RIVER AT FRANKFORT. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 81 

Beyond this is the " Temple," the floor of which 
contains two acres of ground, and covered by a 
dome one hundred feet high. An avenue leads to 
" Fairy Grotto," a beautiful little stalactite room. 
The " Black Chamber " is one hundred and fifty 
feet wide and twenty feet high, entirely lined with 
black gypsum, which is certainly sombre enough. 
In this part of the cave are some small cascades. 

The next day our party started to explore the 
" Long Eoute." Passing the " Bottomless Pit," the 
visitor enters the " Valley of Humihty " — a passage 
but four feet in height, which brings him to the 
" Scotchman's Trap," a small, nearly circular open- 
ing through which he descends, and over which a 
three-cornered stone rests, with one of its corners 
just touching a point of rock on the opposite wall ; 
should this fall, it would obstruct egress from this 
direction, but there are other routes of escape to 
the main cave. The trap admits the visitor to a 
passage a little over three hundred feet long, from 
four to ten feet wide, and from one to four feet high, 
along the bottom of which, the water has worn a 
winding channel three feet deep and nearly two feet 
wdde. It is not the most comfortable thing in hfe 
to pass through. I am sure our friend on board the 
steamer would be obliged to divest himself of his 
hfe-preservers to make the passage, and even then 
I am not quite sure his ever constant fear might not 
be reahzed. 

" Great Relief " is a good-sized room at the end 
of the crooked and narrow way, and never was a 
locality better named. We now arrive at " River 
HaU," which extends to the river Styx. On the 



82 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

right is a small, low chamber, the roof of which is 
cut into various fantastic shapes by the action of 
water. From this room Sparks' Avenue leads to 
the " Mammoth Dome." The only objects of note 
along this avenue are a number of rocks having a 
perfect resemblance to petrified w^ood. Mammoth 
Dome is two hundred and fifty feet high and covers 
a correspondingly large area. The Corinthian col- 
umns, four in number on one side of the " Dome," 
seem to have been cut out of sohd rock. The party 
pursued their way along " Eiver Hall," which 
gradually descended, till the floor, which had been 
dry, became soft and damp. 

On the left is the "Dead Sea," a dark, gloomy- 
looking pit one hundred and fifty yards long, from 
fifteen to forty yards wide, and filled with water to 
witliin forty feet of the top. It occupies nearly the 
entire avenue ; the passage along the right side is 
only wide enough for tw^o persons to w^alk side by 
side, and is inchned, wet and slippery. For a part 
of the distance an iron raihng has been erected to 
guard visitors from slipping into the "Sea." Like 
all other waters in the cave, the Dead Sea has con- 
nection with Green Eiver, and rises and falls with 
that stream. 

At very high w^ater — Green River sometimes rises 
to the height of sixty feet — the iron railing on the 
bank of the "Dead Sea" is entirely submerged. 
There is a perpetual sound of dripping water, which 
coming up from the mysterious depths, echoing from 
the rocks and caverns, while all is utter darkness, 
serves to intensify the sense of awe, and add to the 
mystery and gloom. Descending from our position 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 83 

to within twenty feet of the water, the view was 
even more impressive than before. 

The " Kiver Styx " was next visited. This water 
was crossed on the Natural Bridge, a grand arch of 
rock spanning the stream some thirty feet above its 
surface. Next is seen the " Eiver Lethe," which 
extends in the direction of the passage for a dis- 
tance of one or two hundred yards. The w^aters are 
motionless, and no sound disturbs the perfect qui- 
etude of the scene. The roof of the cave at this 
place is ninety feet high, and on either side the 
walls are grand and precipitous. An old boat was 
called in requisition to ferry the party over. On the 
other shore, a pistol was discharged by the guide, and 
the sound was hke the crash of thunder ; it echoed 
through the passages, again and again, becoming 
fainter and fainter till at length it died away. 

The "Great Walk" is a continuation of River 
Hall, and extends from " Lethe " to " Echo River." 
It is over a quarter of a mile long, and is covered 
with deep, loose sand. A very moderate rise of 
Green River causes this to overflow, and opens 
communication between the Lethe and the Echo 
Rivers; but the former is perhaps only a pool of 
back-water left by the latter after arise, as the cave 
is lower at that part than the river bed. The roof 
of the "Great Walk" is forty feet high, and pre- 
sents the appearance of light floating clouds. At 
the end of this "walk," Echo River leads off from 
the main passage through a low arched way, but 
extends to it again further on, the present river 
being a mere cut-off from the main channel. The 
main passage is called "Purgatory," and admits 



84 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

parties to distant parts of the cave when the water is 
too high to allow of the trip down Echo River, which 
"was made by our party. At first starting, the roof 
is quite low, so near the water that even when at 
its lowest point, travelers are compelled to assume 
a, stooping posture in passing through. 

Sometimes the water rises so suddenly as to en- 
tirely fill this passage in a few^ hours. Should the 
traveler find himself thus entrapped, his only chance 
of escape is through " Purgatory," which is less af- 
fected by a rise in Green River. iVfter proceeding 
for a short distance through this tunnel, the roof 
became higher, and the river extended to a width 
•of two hundred feet. A pistol was again discharged, 
■causing a fearful crash, not less than the report of 
a Parrot gun. It seemed as though each cavity 
in the rocks gave a separate answer, sending the 
•sound back after it had nearly died aw^ay, with re- 
doubled force like heavy thunder. 

In this river is found the eyeless fish. It is from 
four to six inches in length, and though there are 
marks indicating the position of eyes, these organs 
are wanting. Another kind of fish, w^hich is some- 
times, but rarely found here, possesses eyes, but is 
destitute of vision. These fishes are occasional- 
ly obtained in other waters of the cave. After 
heavy freshets ordinary fish and frogs come in 
from Green River. The rat is also an inhabi- 
tant of the cave. This animal is much larger 
than the common species. There is no pecuharity 
about its eyes, except that they are unusually large. 
Lizards and bats innumerable, as also a great variety 
of insects are also dwellers in these subterranean 



AND WONDERS OP THE WEST. 85' 

regions, but vegetable life in any form is never found 
here. 

On landing, the party entered Silliman's Avenue, 
which is a mile-and-a-half long. At one point there 
is a cascade of sparkling water that falls from the 
roof and flows away through the floor; near this is 
an avenue to " Roaring River," which resembles the 
one last described. The echo there is even louder, 
and a cascade at the extremity causes a constant 
roar. Passing the " Infernal Regions," and a few 
other places of little interest, we arrive at Rhoda's 
Avenue, which is said to be the finest in the cave. 
It leads to " Lucy's Dome," which is three hundred 
feet high and sixty in diameter. The walls have 
the appearance of being hung with drapery, and al- 
together, this " Dome " is one of the most interest- 
ing localities in the cave. 

The " Pass of El Ghor " has a very singular ap- 
pearance. It is two miles long, in many places only 
ten or twenty feet wide, and forty or fifty feet high.. 
It bends in every direction, and the floor is cum- 
bered with huge masses of rock. The round and 
smooth surfaces, so noticeable in other portions of 
the cave, are here entirely wanting. Everything 
w^as rugged and angular. In places, the floor for 
long distances is composed wholly of loose rocks 
over which the visitor must clamber at imminent peril 
to hfe or limb. In other parts the shelves of rock 
extend so far over the track, that great caution is 
necessary to avoid accidents. Among the objects, 
of special interest to be seen in this "Pass," are 
the "Hanging Rocks"— immense masses that have 
become detached and hang over the passage in a 



86 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

position seemingly ready to fall at a touch. In 
some places they have sunk so far as to greatly con- 
tract the passage. A person of nervous tempera- 
ment is very liable to feel some misgivings in pass- 
ing beneath them. It is scarcely probable that they 
will fall at an early day, as that part of the cave is 
diy. 

Table Eock, the Black Hole of Calcutta, and 
several other locahties received but a hasty glance. 
Stella's Dome is well worth special attention. Its 
frost work and crystals are very beautiful, but in 
nearly aU respects it is like Lucy's Dome. 

"Martha's Vineyard" is especially interesting. 
The walls and roof are covered with heavy clusters 
of black grapes, so closely massed that neither leaves 
nor stems can be seen. A stalactite about three 
inches in diameter winds its way down the wall, re- 
sembling a grape vine. Of course it is not possible 
to detach a single cluster or grape, for each is a part 
of the solid rock. Water continually trickles down 
the w^all keeping the grapes moist, and as they are 
nearly black, causing them to reflect different tints 
as if in a stage of ripening. 

Near this place is the "Chapel," a beautiful sta- 
lactite chamber, adjoining which is a bare room, in 
the center of which is a grave, seemingly hewn out 
of the sohd rock by human hands. It is caUed the 
^' Holy Sepulchre." 

From Washington HaU — the usual dining place 
of visitors — extends "Marion's Avenue." It is a 
mile-and-a-half long, and at its extremity divides 
into two branches, one of which leads to " Para- 
dise," the other to " Zoe's Grotto." Thus there is 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 87 

within this great cave " Paradise," " Purgatory," 
and the " Bottomless Pit." The traveler may take 
his choice. 

" Portia's Parterre " leads off from " Paradise." It 
is about half a mile long. The walls both here and 
in " Paradise " are covered with gypsum flowers 
and other very beautiful crystalizations. We next 
enter " SnowbaU Eoom," the roof of which is only 
about ten or fifteen feet high, and is thickly dotted 
over with semi-spherical masses of pure white sul- 
phate of lime, about the size of a six pound shot, and 
giving the impression that some one had been pelt- 
ing the roof with snowballs, especially as these balls 
have the loose, cryst aline structure of snow, and 
sparkled and glittered with the reflection of the 
torches. 

" Mary's Bower" was next visited and found more 
beautiful than any locality previously seen. This 
"Bower" is the first room in " Cleveland's Cabi- 
net" which extends for a distance of two miles. It 
is about forty feet wide, and from ten to fifteen feet 
high. The floor is level and free from obstruc- 
tions, a fortunate condition, for in this room dame 
Nature stores her pretty things. It is the flower 
garden of the lower world ; and as other portions 
of the cave are reproductions of objects and places 
seen above ground, so this is a reproduction of a 
flower garden in which a never-ending crop of 
snow^y whiteness is constantly being produced with- 
out the aid of light or moisture — indeed the entire 
absence of the latter is essential to their formation. 

Summer and winter, day and night, the growth 
goes on uninterruptedly, creating a profusion of love- 



88 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

liness, constantly falling, and as constantly being- 
reproduced. This is by far the most beautiful por- 
tion of the cave. Throughout the entire length of 
the "Cabinet " the roof and walls are thickly cov- 
ered with crystahzations of sulphate of hme which 
have taken the forms of flowers, fruits and vegeta- 
bles, imitating them more perfectly than could have 
been done by a skillful sculptor. One very com- 
mon form is a large six-petaled flow er about four 
inches across, wdth a large bunch of protruding 
stamens in the center. But almost every know^n 
variety of flowers may be found reproduced in this 
wonderful formation of rock, often so dehcate that 
they crumble at the touch. Not only are they to 
be found in such profusion, but they are constantly 
growing, and as the growth from beneath gradually 
crowds off the older ones, these fall to the floor, 
which is hterally covered with the fragmentary re- 
mains of the crops of ages. 

That the crystahzations should have taken place 
under the circumstances is not remarkable; that 
they should have assumed various beautiful forms, 
is not a matter of astonishment to a chemist ; but 
that they should so completely imitate the vegetable 
forms of the upper world, in all their variations, is 
certainly calculated to excite wonder and admira- 
tion. Were the instances of this imitation excep- 
tional, it might be accounted for on the law^ of ac- 
cidental coincidence, similar to that by which the 
Giant's Coffln was made in such perfect form ; but 
when we consider that these forms are not the ex- 
ception but the rule — that they occur in endless 
profusion for a space of two miles, and that scarcely 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 89' 

any form but that of the vegetable kingdom is pro- 
duced, the hypothesis of accident certainly be- 
comes untenable. The chemist may reason, and 
the philosopher speculate and assign it to chemical 
affinity, they but refer the cause back to conditions 
as incomprehensible as the first. 

The evidence of design stands forth plainly dis- 
cernable through it all, and not to be obscured by 
all the laws of science and reason that man's inge- 
nuity can devise for veiling it. Every cause that 
can be adduced refers back at last to one great 
cause that must be antecedent to them all — the 
will of the Creator of all things, the Architect and 
Ruler of the Universe. 

" Rose's Bowser " is but a continuation of the one 
last described, and in all respects is quite as beau- 
tiful. 

Among the points of special interest in the "Cabi- 
net " are the following : The " Cross " is a large 
crevice in the roof about eight feet long, and inter- 
sected near one extremity by another shorter one, 
forming the perfect figure of a cross. The whole 
interior of this crevice is hned with flowers. 

" Bachus' Glory " is a small room about five feet 
long and three high, the whole interior of which is 
hned with grapes of white or yellowish white tint. 
These by the light of the torches sparkled hke pre- 
cious gems. 

A little distance beyond, the character of the 
passage is widely different from that which had 
excited so much admiration of the party. The 
" Rocky Mountains " is one hundred feet high, and 
composed chiefly of stones of all sizes that had 



90 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

fallen from the roof. The sides of the mountain 
are very steep, and the summit can only be reached 
with the greatest difficulty and danger, but even 
many ladies accomplish the undertaking, w^here 
they are rew^arded by the sight of " Cleopatra's 
Needle " — a small stalagmite about two feet high. 
On one side of the mountain is a corresponding 
depression called " Dismal Hollow." At this point 
the cave divides into three branches. The one to 
the right leads to " Sandstone Dome." The central 
one called " Franklin Avenue," a quarter of a mile 
in length leads to " Serena's Arbor," a chamber forty 
feet high and twenty feet wide, the walls of which 
are covered with stalactite formations. " Crogan's 
Hall," is the terminus of the cave. It is seventy 
feet in height, with a smooth floor and smooth 
arched roof. The walls are covered with sta- 
lactites, smooth, white, and much resembhng ice. 
On the right is a pit, one hundred and seventy- five 
feet deep, called the "Maelstrom," into which 
streams of water flow from different points causing 
a peculiar sound. At the further end of the " Hall " 
the floor and roof meet. Our explorations of the 
great cave have ended. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



91 



CHAPTEE V. 



l^atural Scenery in Kentucky— The Capital of the State— Old Home 
and Memories of Henry Clay— Indianapolis— The Battle Ground of 
Tippecanoe— Fort Wayne— An Indian's Saving Bank— First View of 
the Western Prairies— Peoria— Galena— Life Underground. 

Throughout the hmestone region of Kentucky 
are numerous caverDs of greater or less extent, sev- 
eral of which we visited. Though differing widely 

in general features, 
all present the most 
beautiful concre- 
tions, stalactites, 
stalagmites, and 
crystalizations, 
such as rewarded 
our explorations in 
Mammoth Cave. 
Proctor's Cave in 
Kentucky, which 
has been explored 
for several miles, 
and Wyandotte 
Cave, near Cory- 
don, Indiana, are 
especially interest- 
ing, but our limited 
time did not allow of a complete exploration of 
•either. 

The natural scenery in many parts of Kentucky 




92 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

is remarkably picturesque, wild and beautiful, and 
affords excellent subjects for the artist's pencil. 
The route we had chosen for our return to Cincin- 
nati led us to the lovely little city of Frankfort — the 
capital of the State — which we could not pass with- 
out pausing to admire the natural beauties of the 
locahty. The city is environed by hills crowned 
with forest trees and verdure, and through it flows 
the beautiful Kentucky River, spanned by a little 
rustic bridge from which we had a view of the 
charming scenery. 

The river, which at this point is very narrow, 
winds its way among the hills, — now hidden from 
view by projecting cliffs, and again seen in the dis- 
tance, appearing like a silver cord upon a ground of 
emerald, as the setting sun cast his last rays upon 
the unruffled surface. 

Ul)on a high bluff overlooking the river, a locality 
especially lovely — is an old cemetery — the burial 
place of several of the Governors of the State, and 
also of the famous Daniel Boone. There are also 
tablets and costly monuments and obelisks marking 
the resting places of the honored dead, but there 
was none of all these that had for ine the deep in- 
terest of the mounds, ranged side by side, of Ken- 
tucky's noble sons who yielded up their lives in 
their devotion to their country's cause. An emer- 
ald mantle covers them, in which are woven by 
Nature's deft and lavish hand, little flowerets that 
treasure up the tears of night for heroes fallen. 

Though the effacing hand of time may obliterate 
the memorials of marble tablets, and crumble into 
dust, the monuments that stand so stately, chaUeng- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 93 

ing the passer-by to read of virtues those possessed 
whom they commemorate, green forever be the me- 
mory of those gallant men, in whatever State their 
home, in whatever ground they he, who at their 
country's call gave up their lives in valiant service 
for her ! 

Leaving Frankfort by the evening train, we soon 
arrived in Lexington, the old home of Kentucky's 
favorite son — the Nation's rather — the home of 
Henry Clay. 

With what reverence and what pride do we speak 
the names of Clay, of Webster, Benton, Critten- 
den, Chase, Douglass, Sumner, Wilson, Lincoln, 
and others of the bright galaxy whose fame is im- 
mortal! They hved for their country. Her glory, 
her greatness and her fame w^as their ambition and 
their pride. Upon whom, in our age, wall their 
mantles fall? 

There is something both sad and sweet in the 
memories clustering round the homes of departed 
heroes — the ideals of the people. This is especially 
so of a man hke Henry Clay, who was personally 
beloved by the people of Kentucky to an extent 
that seems almost marvelous. No other public 
man of his time, not even Quincy, Eandolph or 
Calhoun — his great rivals for forensic honors — en- 
joyed as he did, the unbounded love and esteem of 
his constituents, each of whom thought and spoke 
of Mr. Clay as his personal friend — a friend to be 
revere^. 

I visited Ashland, the former home for many years 
of the great statesman. It is situated on the road 
leading south from Lexington, distant about a mile- 



94 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and-a-half from the court-house. As I entered the- 
gate and walked up the shaded road-way which 
leads to the house, I felt that I was treading upon 
sacred ground. The original Ashland estate, when 
Mr. Clay bought it in 1805, consisted of G50 acres, 
but after his death it was divided. The old house 
has been demohshed and given place to another, 
built, however, from the same architectural designs. 
The " negro quarters " of Mr. Clay's servants are 
still standing. 

At his Ashland home, Mr. Clay received his neigh- 
bors and his distinguished company, with the same 
generous hospitality. He often entertained the 
leading men of the time, and among his visitors 
were Daniel Webster, Count Bertrand, the French 
minister, Mr. Palitica, the Kussian ambassador, 
Lafayette, President Monroe, Lord Morpeth and 
many others, w^ho came great distances to see him 
and enjoy his hospitahty. Every great man has, in 
a certain sense, a dual character. As a pubhc man, 
he is constantly on his guard, lest he betray some 
weakness of his nature, or afford opportunities for 
jealous minds to censure and condemn; in his pri- 
vate and social relations, he is but a man among 
men. In the latter relation, Mr. Clay was as suc- 
cessful in winning golden opinions of his neighbors, 
as he was in public hfe — in the senate and in popu- 
lar assemblages. He charmed every one with whom 
he held any intercourse, by his kindly and hospita- 
ble manner. While all felt that they were in the 
presence of a superior intelligence, yet his pleasing 
manners never failed to invite confidence, and hence 
his social parties were always delightful. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 95 

In the beautiful cemetery of Lexington is a mon- 
ument to his memory. It is 120 feet in height, and 
is surmounted by a statue which has been pro- 
nounced a perfect semblance of the great states- 
man, whose body reposes within the crypt at the 
base of the monument. 

The corner-stone was laid July 4, 1857, and the 
structure, which is of gray hme-stone, was finished 
two years later, and formally dedicated with the 
most imposing ceremonies July 4, 1860, in the pres- 
ence of an immense concourse of persons, hundreds 
of whom came from distant states. 

With the purpose of seeing several other points 
east of the Mississippi — which aside from the great 
interest they possess for every tourist, as evidences 
of the wonderful growth and prosperity of our 
country, are also rich in historical associations — 
three of us proceeded to Indiana, while the other 
members of our^party departed for St. Louis, to 
complete the most important prehminaries for the 
continuation of our trip, viz., to charter a steamer 
of light draught, in which we proposed to visit some 
of the navigable waters of the Far West ; for the de- 
lay which had been occasioned by the failure of the 
two Enghsh gentlemen to arrive at the appointed 
time, had deprived us of the opportunity of pro- 
ceeding in a government steamer that was to con- 
vey supplies to several of the western forts, in 
which we had expected to take passage. 

The first point of destination of the former party 
was to Lafayette, Indiana. Stopping over for a few 
hours in Indianapohs, the State Capital, and taking 
hasty glances at the beautiful city, I was not a lit- 



96 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

tie amused by the expressions of astonishment of 
one of our Enghsh companions, Mr. Barstow, whose 
geography and liistory both, concerning the United 
States, were somewhat out of joint. He had grad- 
uated at one of the best colleges it is true, but this 
was his first visit to this country, and his astonish- 
ment was unbounded on learning that but fifty 
years ago the site of this delightful city w^as the 
undisputed territory of the red man, — that their 
council fires had been kindled and their pow-»^^ows 
held upon the very spot w^hereon the capitol 
stands to-day ; that men are now living in the city 
who well remember its first settlement and the 
diificulties and perils experienced by the early set- 
tlers, in their efforts to estabhsh homes for them- 
selves in this then" Far West" — regions which have 
since so far receded. 

Mr. Warrington, the second of our Enghsh friends, 
obtained credit for a better knowledge of the New 
World by his silence, but it was very evident that 
he was quite as much amazed by what he saw as 
was his more out-spoken companion. 

A ride of sixty- six miles brought us to Lafayette. 
This thriving and beautiful city is situated on the 
left bank of the Wabash Eiver, and is in all respects 
as enterprising as any city in the State. The first 
American settlement of the place was made in 1823 
— four years later than the period of settlement of 
Indianapolis. Among the chief objects of interest 
in the city is an artesian mineral well, of the depth 
of 230 feet, of the wonderful healing properties of 
which the reader is as well informed as myself. If 
medicines are efficacious in proportion to the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 97 

degree of their disagreeable taste— which it would 
seem that some physicians beheve— these waters 
must be super- excellent, and the sound health of 
our party is assured from this onward, to the end of 
our hves. I say this, however, in confidence and in 
parenthesis, that the good people of Lafayette may 
not think us ungrateful for the many courtesies ex- 
tended by them. The Wabash Canal affords com- 
munication watli the Ohio and with Lake Erie, and 
vast quantities of grain thus find transportation to 
the great markets of the w^orld. 

Seven miles distant from the city is the old battle- 
ground of Tippecanoe, to w^hich we paid a vdsit, and 
in doing so, passed through a most fertile and highly 
cultivated region of country. This spot of ground 
was, in 1811, the theater of the most desperate 
fighting between the Indians and the brave soldiers 
under command of General Harrison. It was the 
last grand struggle of the Miami Confederacy to re- 
pel the advance of civihzation, upon which the most 
momentous results depended. If the Indians were 
defeated, farew^ell to their hopes of ever driving 
the white man from the beautiful country they 
had entered, and which they would then forever 
possess; if victorious, the graves of their fathers 
and their fan- hunting-grounds would be safe to 
them and their children— the white man would flee 
in terror, never more to return, and the smoke from 
their wigwams in these favorite regions would ascend 
to the skies for all future time. Tecumseh led the 
warriors to battle. He was a host in himself. En- 
joying the fuUest confidence of the " braves" whom 
he led, and beheving himself invincible, he and his 

7 



98 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

followers rushed madly to tlie conflict. No cliief- 
tain of all the Confederacy was better quahfied than 
he to give battle to the pale faces. 

General Harrison, who was an expert and vahant 
Indian fighter, knew Avell the foe with whom he 
had to deal, and did not under-rate the prowess and 
cunning of the enemy. Never was there a more 
determined and deadly contest betw^een savagery 
and civihzation. Furiously, like the whiii-wind 
rushed the Eed men ; with tomahawks and scalping- 
ing knives uplifted — hand-to-hand they fought ; the 
savages heeding not the galhng fire that covered 
the ground wdth the dead and dying, but with hide- 
ous yells and the fury of demons, sought to avenge 
the slain. At length the chieftain, Tecumseh him- 
self, fell, and by his fall the Indian confederacy was 
broken and the savages scattered in aU directions, 
never afterwards daring to molest the settlers who 
came hither to take possession of their lands. 

Fort Wayne was our next point of destination. 
This enterprising city is situated at the confluence 
of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Eivers. These 
waters uniting form the Maumee. Fort Wayne, 
now so flourishing and prosperous, with its fine 
hotels, elegant public buildings and private resi- 
dences, its machine-shops and factories, its many 
churches, schools and news journals, and other con- 
comitants of a fine city, had in its infancy a hard 
struggle for existence. 

In 1794, General Wayne here erected a fort, the 
ruins of which may yet be seen. So far was it be- 
yond the bounds of ci^dlization, that nobody deemed 
it either safe or profitable to penetrate so far west- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 99 

ward. Even the most restless Yankee farmer, who 
contemplated a removal to the " Far West," never 
dreamed of going further than Ohio, which was so 
very far away, hut as for going to Indiana, that 
would he " flying directly into the face and eyes of 
Providence " — a thought never to be entertained by 
prudent people — so for a period of fifteen years Ft. 
Wayne was merely a military post. The territory 
was solely inhabited by roaming savages, who re- 
garded with great dissatisfaction and apprehension 
the presence of armed white men within their pre- 
cincts; fearing still further encroachments upon 
their hunting grounds in the future, they resolved 
upon the destruction of the garrison. Their fears 
were confirmed when settlers b,egan to arrive, and 
construct their homes in the vicinity of the " big 
thunder," as they called the fort. 

On a dark night in the year 1812, the Indians 
in great numbers approached the fort under cover 
of the trees, and thick underbrush, which grew^ near 
it, and from their ambush, began an assault upon it, 
at the same moment applying the torch to the 
houses of the little village,— aU of which were laid 
in ashes, and the terror-stricken settlers, who could 
not save themselves by flight were massacred. The 
fort was saved from destruction by the timely ar- 
rival of General Harrison and his forces. 

In 1815, a promising httle settlement was estab- 
hshed upon the site of the present city. In those 
early days the approach to Ft. Wajme was by flat 
boats, by the St. Mary's and by the Maumee Elvers. 
This means of communication continued until 1838, 
when it was terminated by the construction of mill 



100 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

dams, needful for the growth of the town. Indians, 
hunters, and game, all made their way still further 
westward. One Indian Chief, w^ho had accumulated 
nearly a quarter of a million of dollars, — an unpre- 
cedented instance of Indian economy — deposited 
his savings in a bank, hut as it was only a bank of 
earth, with no further securities than the forest 
trees, the money was discovered after the chief- 
tain's death, and duly appropriated, I beheve, by the 
white men who found it. 

Pursuing our w^ay Westward into Illinois, the de- 
sire of our Enghsh companions to see a vast prai- 
rie was gratified. There are portions of the State 
€sven now, thickly settled as it is, where broad prai- 
ries in their primitive condition produce only luxu- 
riant verdure. 

For miles around the locality in which w^e were, 
level and rolling prairie lands extended. Bank 
grass and an almost endless variety of beautiful 
flowers covered the plain, and as the gentle breath 
of summer swept over the vast tract, old ocean was 
indeed typified; there were the graceful undula- 
tions with passing zephyrs, and the long ground- 
swells with the stronger breeze. Thousands of 
acres were thus clothed with herbage, and millions 
of flowers in endless variety exhaled their sweetness 
on the air, but for miles around there was not a 
single tree, except upon the site of the settlement, 
where the land became gradually elevated, and upon 
which grew in variety, a large and beautiful grove 
of forest trees, the wide-spreading branches of which 
form a pleasant shade in summer, and serve to mod- 
erate the severity of the wands and storms of winter. 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 101 

The broad expanse soon wearies the eye by its mo- 
notony after the novelty of the sight has worn off. 
The Indians and buffaloes that once traversed these 
plains have long since gone to the land of the set- 
ting sun. 

" The want of variety, which is ordinarily essen- 
tial to landscape attraction, is more than compen- 
sated for in the prairie scenery, as in that of the 
boundless ocean, by the impressive quahties of im- 
mensity and power," says Appleton's American 
Travel. " Far as the most searching eye can reach, 
the great unvarying plain rolls on; its sublime 
grandeur softened, but not weakened, by the occa- 
sional groups of trees in its midst, or by the forests 
on its verge, or by the countless flowers everyw^here- 
upon its surface. The prairies abound in game. 
The prairie duck, sometimes but improperly called 
grouse, are most abundant in September and Octo- 
ber, when large numbers are annually taken. 

" Perhaps the most striking picture of the prairie 
country is to be found on Grand Prairie. Its gently 
undulating plains, profusely decked with flowers of 
every hue and skirted on all sides by woodland 
copse, roll on through many long miles wdth a 
width varying from one to a dozen or more miles.. 
The uniform level of the prairie region is supposed 
to result from the deposit of waters by which the 
land was ages ago covered. The soil is entirely free 
from stones, and is extremely fertile. The most 
notable characteristics of the prairies, their destitu- 
tion of vegetation, excepting in the multitude of 
rank grasses and flowers, will gradually disappear, 
since nothing prevents the growth of trees but the 



102 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

continual fires wliicli sweep over the plains. These 
prevented, a fine growth of timber soon springs up, 
and as the wood-lands are thus assisted in encroach- 
ing u]ion and occupying the plains, settlements and 
habitations wdll follow, until the prairie tracts are 
over-run with cities and towns. Excepting the 
specialty of the prairie, the most interesting land- 
scape scenery of this state is that of the bold 
acclivitous river shores of the Mississippi, the Ohio 
and Illinois Rivers." 

A few^ hours in Springfield, the State Capital, 
enabled us to ^dsit the former home and last resting 
place of President Lincoln, to whose pure charac- 
ter, true and noble patriotism and distinguished 
services for the Nation, the Nation pays deserved 
tribiite. Our English friends were as lavish of 
their eulogies of the honored dead as Americans 
could be. 

A ride of seventy miles brought us to Peoria — a 
very beautiful city, situated upon the west bank of 
the Illinois River, at the outlet of Peoria Lake and 
192 miles from the point where the Illinois pours 
its waters into the Mississippi. The city is built 
upon a plateau extending over an area of about 
four square miles, and is surrounded by high and 
picturesque bluffs, which in the near future will 
surely be adorned to a still greater extent than at 
present with elegant residences. 

Standing upon the margin of the lake, a scene of 
grandeur and rare beauty is before us. The lakelet 
at our feet is unruffled and glittering where the 
sunbeams stealing through the trees fall upon it, 
■while above us are precipitous and lofty bluffs 
crowned with verdure and shrubbery. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST, 103 

As early as the year 1680, the French built a fort 
upon the site now occupied by the city, and estab- 
hshed a trading post, but in 1796, when this section 
of country came under the jurisdiction of the 
United States, it was only an Indian callage of the 
Peoria tribe. In 1813, Fort Clark was built near 
the lake, and settlers clustered about it ; as usual 
with the frontier settlements under the protection 
of our country's flag, thrift and prosperity grew 
from industry, frugality and good government. Peo- 
ria was the first settlement on the river, and to-day 
it is a lovely little city of 25,000 inhabitants. 

We made a brief visit to Galena, a city in the 
northwestern part of the State, notable for its lead 
mines, and interesting to us as being the former 
home of President Grant. Galena is situated upon 
an arm of the Mississippi, linow^n as Fevre River. 
The first settlement was made here in 1826. For 
many years mining has been the ruhng industry of 
the place. The veins of mineral in the vicinity of 
Galena run east and W' est ; the crevices which con- 
tain it are usually perjjendicular, and from one foot 
to twenty feet in width. The masses of ore are 
cubes, like those formed by crystahzations, and 
many of them are geometrically exact in shape. 
The ore at first is of a dull bluish color, but being 
broken it glistens like silver. The miners, when 
"prospecting," resort to several methods to deter- 
mine the right locality for commencing their labors. 
They take into account the linear arrangement of 
the trees of extraordinary size, note the depressions 
in the surface of the ground, and many of them have 
great faith in the use of the hazel wand or divining 
rod. 



104 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

The impressions of the traveler concerning the 
country surrounding Galena are not very favorable. 
The hills are generally destitute of the luxuriant 
verdure with which the eye has become so familiar 
in traversing other portions of the State, and at the 
first glance one might almost fancy that he was in 
the midst of a settlement of Mound Builders. 

From "Tuttle's Centennial Northwest" w^e ex- 
tract the following description of the mines in this 
vicinity : " The yellowish mound is the w^aste that 
has to be dug out by the miners in order that he 
may reach the ore. There are some shafts much 
deeper than others ; many are only forty feet, while 
others exceed a hundi*ed. But there is a loop on the 
end of the wdndlass rope, and one foot is made fast ; 
you have a tight grasp with botli hands, above your 
head, upon the faithful support to which your life is 
entrusted. 'Low^er away' is the word, and you are 
going steadily down, dowTi into Hades itself, so dark 
is the road below you. 'How far is it from this 
place to hell,' asked a would-be facetious traveler, 
of the Methodist who tended the windlass. 'Let 
go that rope and you wall be there in a minute,' was- 
the quick, if not pleasant reply. 

" The air becomes sensibly cooler as we descend 
beyond the range of sunlight, and the earth seems 
to close in around us ; then there is a warmth, not 
entirely for want of ventilation, but an actual contri- 
bution of heat from the central fires, or from the slow- 
ly cooling rocks which have retained a portion of the 
sun's ardor, if not of his radiance, during all the 
millions of years which have elapsed since the solar 
system was shaped and set in motion. We are down 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 105 

now in the darkness, on solid ground once more, but 
it is not entirely dark. 

"A man stands there before us, with a candle set 
in a sconce of clay upon his head-gear, and if it were 
not for his straight hair, his thin compressed lips, 
and the grey eyes which partially overhaul his ob- 
server, it would be easy to beheve the miner is a 
'gentleman of color.' The aspect of the workman 
is due to his occupation ; as Shakespeare says, ' The 
dyer's hand is subdued to the color in which he 
works.' 

" The mine is made up of many galleries or drifts, 
and away at the extremity of each, there is a man at 
work following his lode of metal through the earth, 
blasting the rock sometimes to procure it, and then 
removing the fragments with his pick, until he has 
enough debris to load a tub for the windlass man 
on the surface. Each drift contains its man, but 
men do not always find the mineral for which they 
are searching. Mining becomes almost as alluring 
a pursuit as the gaming table itself. The poor fel- 
lows sometimes follow the ignis fatuus luck down 
there out of the sunlight, month after month, with- 
out procuring lead enough to pay for sharpening the 
pick, and still the idea is powerful as ever that a 
lode will be found presently that will pay for all this 
labor. The miner does not call his vein a lode — his 
term is 'lead,' and very naturally so, because he 
is led by it as far as the vein traverses the rock until 
he reaches the confines of his claim. His drive is 
from four to six feet high, and from three to four 
feet wide, without apparently any timber supports 
to prevent the superincumbent earth from ' caving 



lOG LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

in,' and burying the human mole at his work. This 
man has found lead long, long ago, and he allows 
you to see him at his work, striking, lifting, driving, 
forcing in every way that seems most likely to effect 
his purpose, to dislodge the mineral from the crevice 
of rock into wdiichit is w^edged and fastened as metal 
runs into a mould. The colors w^hich flash from the 
treasure as it stands there waiting to be won are 
sometimes brilliant as diamonds and opals, as the 
candle reflects its light on a hundred glancing 
facets, and you wish there were some richer results 
than lead to reward the patient labor of these sons 
of toil; but wdien they wdn lead enough to keep 
their families in comfort, they are content. 

" Gold in the earth does not always look as brilliant 
as the mass of lead now before us, and the returns 
of the gold-miner are not nearly as steady as the 
more moderate earnings of the lead-miner at G-alena. 
The one mineral gives a profit to its workers and to 
the Nation, the other is an absolute loss to the com- 
munity. Mine lead, and j^ou v^all iind after the 
wages fund of the whole enterprise and all of its 
expenses have been paid, there is a margin of gain 
to be divided among the promoters. Mine gold, and 
although some few will strike ' pockets ' and ' jew- 
elers' shops,' the great majority of hard-w^orking 
and hard-faring men will not earn wages ; nay, worse 
than that, they do not get, in thousands of cases, 
enough to pay for their stores. The gold ' finds ' 
in Cahfornia and in Australia have only sold at the 
best for about twenty dollars per ounce, and when 
the number of men working in the mines has been 
charged against the whole result, at wages which 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 107 

"would readily be earned by easier work at their sev- 
eral trades and callings, it is found that the cost of 
the precious metal which will sell at twenty dollars, 
is a httle more than twenty- six dollars and a quar- 
ter. Perhaps when gold-mining comes to be fol- 
lowed out more systematically by skilled workmen, 
wdth the aid of machinery and under the supervision 
of able metallurgists, as is growing to be every day 
more and more the case in our quartz mines, there 
will be better results in that industry also. 

" Certainly gold has been mined in the most reck- 
less w^ay that can be imagined, and the w^aste of 
labor and capital in the process has been no more 
than might be expected in any pursuit in which 
persons without special culture would undertake to 
direct ' enterprises of great pith and moment ' in 
vs^hich fortunes could be expended in a year. 

" When Galena was first made a settlement, there 
were no white neighbors within a journey of about 
300 miles. Dubuque was mined much more exten- 
sively than any other locahty in the northwest, for 
this mineral, and the Frenchman who gave his name 
to that region began his operations in the last cen- 
tury, when Spain still claimed sovereignty over the 
tract of territory under which he and his workmen 
pursued their toilful avocation." 



108 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE VI. 

Dubuque and its Surroundings- -Alarm of Firo — Mike Carrigan, the- 
Man for an Emergency— Davenport— Its Early History — Burling- 
ton—Keokuk - Quincy — Moonlight on the Eiver — Arrival at St. 
Louis. 

We have now arrived at tlie banks of the Missis- 
sii)pi — the " Messipi " of the Indians — whose swift- 
flow^ing w^aters form the eastern boundary of Iowa — 
w^hich embraces an area of 55,000 square miles — tha 
same size as Illinois. Iowa is a state of the great- 
est fertihty, and presents a most pleasing variety of 
elevations and depressions, picturesque bluffs, bold 
chffs, stately forests, broad prairies and beautiful 
rivers. The greatest elevation is in the northwest- 
ern part of the State — a portion w^e may see in our 
ascent of the Missouri, w4iicli forms its w^estern 
boundary. The site now occupied by the city of 
Des Moines, the State Capital, w^as formerly the 
place where the Iowa tribe of Indians held their 
councils to consider matters of very grave impor- 
tance, no doubt, such as the best way of car^dng 
human scalps and flaying white men, but they have 
long since passed to the " happy hunting grounds." 
Their name alone remains and that wiU ever be per- 
petuated by the name of the flourishing and pros- 
perous State. 

Crossing the bridge which spans the river, con- 
necting Iowa with lUinois — a substantial structure 
of stone and iron, a third of a mile in length, built 




SCENE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 



110 LIPE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

in 1865, at a cost of nearly three-quarters of a mil- 
lion dollars — we found ourselves in the beautiful and 
busy city of Dubuque, claiming, and justly so I should 
say, a population of 40,000. No locality upon the 
river could present more natural advantages for a 
city, none could be more picturesque, interesting 
and grandly beautiful than that upon which the city 
is situated. Eising gradually from the river bank 
and extending back for perhaps half-a-mile, is a 
plateau or table land, upon w^hich the business por- 
tion of the city stands. Upon wdde and cleanly 
streets are imposing buildings — stores, warehouses, 
factories and shops of all kinds, elegant public build- 
ings and many fine residences. A semi-circular 
range of bluffs rises to an altitude of nearly 250 
feet above the river, the highlands being adorned 
with delightful residences and their ornamental sur- 
roundings. 

Standing upon these bluffs, a scene strangely grand 
and beautiful is before you. The river, flowing 
majestically from its home in the hills of the north, 
bearing on its bosom the wealth of the country, 
may be seen for miles, with its arms and indenta- 
tions, its promontories, and banks fringed wdth the 
foliage of grand old trees that have shaded from the 
sultry summer's sun and winter's storms the red 
men and the early voyageurs, and now standing in 
silent w^onder for the W'liite man's miracles of pro- 
gress and masterly achievements. 

This region of country is singularly picturesque 
and vastly interesting to the traveler, the naturahst 
and the antiquarian. In the immediate vicinity of 
the city, the country is exceedingly rough — almost 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. Ill 

mountainous. Bold cliffs, their summits revealing 
solid, regular strata of rock, which may be fre- 
quently seen shooting up into towers and spires 
and fantastic forms, frown on every side, between 
which are wooded ravines, scarcely penetrable to 
the eye. As I have said, the city stands in a semi- 
circle of these stupendous bluffs fronting the river. 

Dubuque has had an eventful history, for the de- 
tails of which, however, we have not space. About 
the year 1786, Juhan Dubuque, a French Canadian, 
first visited the country. At a council held at Prai- 
rie du Cliien, in 1788, the Indians — the Sac and Fox 
tribes — conferred upon Dubuque— ^whom they catted 
Petite Nuit, (Little Night) — permission to work the 
lead mines, and made him a grant of 140,000 acres 
of land. This title was confirmed by the Spanish 
government, and the grant was designated as " The 
Mines of Spain." 

A stone monument upon a high bluff, a mile or two 
below the city, now marks the final resting place of 
Juhan Dubuque. The land grant was most mag- 
nanimous upon the part of the Indians ; but while 
their hatreds are enduring, their friendships are not 
apt to be proof against aU life's vicissitudes, and they 
have been known to forget their assurances of amity 
almost before the smoke of the calumet had van- 
ishe d. After Dubuque's death, the Indians bu rnt 
his ho use and e rased ev er y vestige of civihzed life ; 
he had many friends, however, whose attachment 
was evinced by covering his tomb with sheet lead. 
A cedar cross still marks the place of his burial. 

No permanent white settlement was begun upon 
the site of the present city until 1833. To that 



112 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

period it was in the possession of the Indian tribes — 
the Sacs and Foxes, and the government of the 
United States would not allow them to be disturbed. 
In 1830, a party of lead miners who went thither in 
spite of the government's prohibition — and who 
were driven away by the United States' troops com- 
manded by Col. Zachary Taylor — found that the 
Indians had abandoned the place. Tuttle, the his- 
torian, teUs us in his " Centennial Northwest," that 
"the stalks of the last year's corn waved over the 
present site of Dubuque, and for miles on either side. 
The village of Indians which had subsisted for many 
years at the mouth of Catfish Creek, had been 
broken up for some mysterious reason, and the re- 
mains of the old wigwams alone told of the genera- 
tions of red men that had come and gone. There 
were the wrecks of furnaces in which the feasts of 
the tribes had been prepared on great occasions, and 
in a council room which had witnessed many gather- 
ings to discuss the relative merits of war and peace, 
there were rude paintings, intended to delineate and 
immortalize the deeds of the braves." This coun- 
cil house with its mementoes, which should have 
been preserved, was destroyed by those Huns and 
Vandals who early went to Dubucpie, and who ren- 
dered the greatest service to the place by quitting it. 
At Dubuque we took passage upon a steamer for 
St. Louis. The weather was delightful, and as I 
admired the scenery on the banks of the river, my 
companions busied themselves wath their note books, 
tiU the occurrence of an exciting incident fraught 
with serious results to Mr. Barstow, our artist, for 
by it his sketches of locahties visited, some of which 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 113 

were especially fine, and destined for friends across 
the ocean, were utterly ruined, by the careless- 
ness of a passenger in throwing down a hghted 
cigar ; a paper with which it came in contact was 
quickly in flames. An alarm of fire was instantly, 
but needlessly given, for in an instant the paper was 
seized and thrown overboard. Although no harm 
whatever resulted from the flames, the greatest con- 
sternation prevailed among'those who were ignorant 
•of the facts. Mike Carrigan, an Irish servant, who 
accompanied the Enghsh gentlemen, rushed franti- 
cally to their state-room with the purpose of saving 
the baggage, and in his haste overturned a bottle of 
ink upon Mr. Barstow's sketches, ruining them all; 
but as only a part of the ink was lost, he meant to 
save the remaining quantity at all hazards, even if 
lie should peril his life in the attempt. He hastily 
thrust the ink-bottle — neglecting to cork it — into 
the satchel, then cramming in the sketches, and 
whatever hnen he could find, brushed away the 
^gathering perspiration that was bhnding him, and, 
satchel in hand, rushed upon deck, just in time to 
learn that it was a false alarm, and to turn the inci- 
dent into a scene of merriment by his grotesque ap- 
pearance, his face being covered with the best black 
ink, "warranted to grow blacker upon exposure to 
the light and air," and httle rivulets of ink percolat- 
ing through the satchel. 

" What are yees all laughing at?" asked Mike, in 
-astonishment and indignation, his flashing eye and 
red and black face making his appearance still more 
ludicrous ; and as his question was only answered by 
shouts of laughter, he added: "Beggory, it's be- 



114 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

cause I brought ujy mastlier's summer clothes wid 
me. If yees had all been burnt to death ahve ye'd 
now be afther wishin' ye'd brought your own sum- 
mer clothes," he said, with a sly wink and a nod; 
and with this hint of prospective pui-gatory he made 
his exit. 

When within a distance of about twenty miles of 
Davenport, we passed the upper rapids of the Miss- 
issippi, which, at a low stage of water, seriously 
impede navigation. Davenport, as the reader is 
aware, is one of the chief cities of Iowa. It may be 
regarded as the principal city, in view of its import- 
ance in a commercial point of view. It is on the 
right bank of the river, distant 230 miles from St. 
Louis, in close proximity to Rock Island, Illinois, 
with which it is connected by a bridge. 

The view of the city of Davenport, as we ap- 
proached it, was strikingly beautiful. The city is 
built upon an inchned plain a mile or two in width, 
and extending from the river point back to a range 
of very high bluffs, the slopes of which are dotted 
here and there with elegant residences, wdiile gar- 
dens, orchards, shade trees and lawns present a scene 
of beauty. At a little distance from the city, per- 
haps three or four miles, the bluffs open into Pleas- 
ant Valley, as the prairie is called, and the name is 
most appropriate. The diversity of the scenery and 
striking contrasts from the majestic elevations, to 
level and to rolling tracts covered with verdure, all 
form a picture which once witnessed will not soon 
fade from memory. 

The gray limestone w^hich underlies the city, crops 
out on the river bank, and in places there are pre- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 115 

cipitous cHffs which rise to the height of thirty feet 
or more. In this hmestone formation, have been 
found cornehans and agates of remarkable beauty. 

The city has a population of about thirty thou- 
sand, and is notable for its extensive manufactures 
of various kinds, among which are superior cotton 
fabrics, etc. Everything in and about the city de- 
notes thrift, prosperity and remarkable enterprise. 
Its history, from its incorporation in 1838, to the 
present time, has been most gratifying, and reflects 
the highest credit upon its people. The city was 
named in honor of Colonel Davenport, an Enghsh- 
man by birth, but an officer of the American army in 
the war of 1812. His hfe w^as an eventful one ; his 
noble quahties endeared him to hosts of friends, but 
few men of real force of character are without ene- 
mies as weU as friends ; Colonel Davenport, in his old 
age, was assassinated in his own house in Rock 
Island. 

Some fifty miles down the river, we arrive at Bur- 
hngton, a pretty and flourishing city built in a val- 
ley and upon a slope of hills, in the midst of one of 
the best farming regions of the State. It presents 
a striking appearance upon its approach, and in its 
topography differs from the cities higher up the 
river. There are, however, bluffs in the vicinity 
having an elevation of from one to two hundred feet. 
For its commercial as well as for its manufactur- 
ing interests it ranks deservedly high, and has all 
the elements for attaining stiU greater importance. 
It is nearly the equal of Davenport in population, 
but its growth is not remarkably rapid in compari- 
son to some other of our western cities. At the 



116 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

time of the organization of the state government 
of Iowa in 1838 it was the capital, but in 1839 the 
seat of government was removed to Iowa City, and 
later to Des Moines. 

Passing Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee 
County, Iowa, and Nauvoo on the opposite side of 
the river — the latter place being notable for its Mor- 
mon associations, the killing of the notorious Joe 
Smith, the Mormon leader, and outrages by and 
upon the "Saints" prior to their exodus to the 
^' Holy Land " — we reach the city of Keokuk — " the 
Gate City of Iowa," — so called from its position, it 
being at the head of navigation for large vessels on 
the Mississippi, and two miles from the mouth of the 
Des Moines Kiver, at the foot of the lower rapids of 
the Mississippi, which are twelve miles in extent, 
with a fall in that distance of about twenty-five 
feet, over ledges of rock. A canal would greatly 
conduce to the general prosperity, and will no doubt 
in early time be constructed. The city was first 
laid out in 1837, and now has a population of nearly 
25,000. It is one of the most fiourishing and enter- 
prising of our western cities. Its foundries, flour- 
mills, and many other industries give to it deserved 
distinction. 

The city is built at the base and upon the summit 
of a high bluff, and its buildings, both pubhc and 
private, evince a high degree of taste and refine- 
ment of its citizens. A bridge nearly 2,300 feet in 
length extends from the city across the river. Keo- 
kuk takes its name from an Indian chief w^ho, during 
the Black Hawk war, was a friend to the settlers. 
'The name signifies " the watchful fox." 



' AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 117 

Beautiful river ! Lovely and picturesque scenery ! 
What marvelous results of enterprise ! These and 
similar expressions of surprise and dehght have been 
uttered a hundred times and more by our passen- 
gers, as the steamer has pursued her course from 
our place of starting, and constantly disclosed new 
scenes for wonder and admiration, yet these phrases 
but faintly express our astonishment and pleasure 
as we gazed upon this dehghtful panorama. 

Fancy peopled the banks with red men in their 
sylvan home, reposing in hstless idleness or pad- 
dhng their hght canoes upon the river's bosom; the 
voices of their wives and httle ones seemed to echo 
from the shady copse upon the far hillside, as in 
quietude and peace they chanted the legends of the 
]0Pave— a people worshipping the very trees that 
sheltered them, their hunting-grounds that supphed 
their simple needs, and with a faith that puts to 
shame the infidehty of many Christian people, attrib- 
uting all the good that came to them to the Great 
Spirit. They hved, they loved, they hated, they 
have gone. The visions of shadowy forms are but 
reflections of over-hanging trees that skirt the 
river's bank; the voices are the songs of the glad 
husbandman, gleaning his bountiful harvest, and 
the gleeful shouts of liis children about the cottage 

door. 

We are now approaching Quincy— the county seat 
of Adams— the county in which, as the reader wall 
remember, are very remarkable mounds and fortifi- 
cations similar to those we saw in Ohio ; but we 
have not the time now for antiquarian researches— 
our business is with the living and busy present ;, 



118 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and animated and bustling enougli is the scene now 
before us and before the beautiful city of Quincy, 
from its elevation on the grand old bluffs that rise 
more than a hundred feet above the majestic river, 
affording delightful \dews of the surroundings to the 
tourist and the forty or fifty thousand people w^ho 
are proud, as who would not be to call this charm- 
ing city home. 

Below us, as we stand upon the summit of the 
bluffs, are the river landings with steamers receiv- 
ing and discharging their wealth of boxes, bales, 
barrels, and crates of freight. Yonder is a beautifiLl 
bridge extending across the river; there the Court 
House, of fine architectural proportions, and very 
many imposing edifices for business, and scores of 
elegant residences ; there w^e see incoming and out- 
going railway trains on roads that radiate from the 
city in all directions ; we count a couple-of-dozen 
church spires, and many school-houses, and to w^hat- 
ever point we turn our eyes — stretching beyond the 
range of -sight, are grounds of great fertilty with 
their golden plush of grain, thrifty orchards laden 
with ripening fruit, and gardens of rare beauty. 
The air is balmy and refreshing ; the city surely is 
healthful as well as busy. 

The city was named in honor of John Quincy 
Adams. It w^as first settled in 1822, at which time 
there were but three white men in the entire county. 
Even Daniel Boone, had he been one of them, 
would not have complained of being over-crowded 
by his neighbors. The grist-mill nearest the new 
settlement was forty miles away — rather a hard way 
to get a living ; the settlers surely earned their daily 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 119 

l)read At the close of the Black Hawk war in 
1832 the settlement rapidly increased m numbers. 
The' present of Quincy is most prosperons -her 
intnre is fuU of grand possibihties and probabihties 
from which the enterprise of her people wih de- 
velope certain realities. . , , i 

We are now one hundred and sixty-lour miles 
from St. Louis and the City of Quincy, long to be 
remembered, is receding from our view as the river 
winds its way around a promontory upon the east- 
ern shore. ± ^t n 
Our last view of the city was at sunset ol a 
glorious day in mid-summer. The lingermg twihght 
Lve an inexpressible charm to the river scenery, 
which, however, was intensified a httle later when 
the full moon rose above the horizon. The fleecy 
clouds had floated by, the soft moonhght shone m 
splendor, and the river ghstened and sparkled hke 
pohshed silver. The taU and stately trees upon the 
bank cast fantastic shadows upon the surface of 
the water, and occasionally some jutting chft, or 
spur of grayish rock would loom grandly up, seem- 
incr by our swift, but gentle motion to approach, 
like a giant sentinel to chaUenge our advance. 
StiUness reigned, broken only by the barking ol a 
house-dog from some lone cabin m the distance, 
and by the gloomy cries of night birds from some 
nearer thicket of tangled wild-wood. The scene 
was singularly beautiful and impressive. 

We passed the city of Hannibal, Missouri, and 
several points of lesser importance, and after a pas- 
sage made in unusuaUy quick time, we arrived at 
St. Louis. 



120 



LIFE IN THE WlhDH OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEK VII. 

Members of the Party — Departure for the "Far West" — Scenery along- 
the River— A Thrillinsr Night Adventure— A Ride for Life— Furious- 
Men and Ferocious Beasts— Off for the Plains. 




The gentlemen wlia 
had preceded us for the 
purpose of securing a 
steamer of hght draught 
for our expedition, had 
been successful; they 
had chartered a small 
boat — the "EUiot" — 
that had been engaged 
in the Eed River trade, 
but had just been with- 
drawn. She was as trim 
and staunch as any 
steamer of her size that 
ever left the port. They 
had also engaged the 
services of two hunters 
of great experience and 
otlier essential qualifi- 
cations, among which 
were extraordinary phy- 
sical strength, and if 
their declarations might 
be credited, a thorough 
knowledge of the re- 
gions we proposed to- 
visit. They silenced 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 121 

our scepticism upon this point by declaring in em- 
phatic language, some of w^hich is not to be found 
in my vocabulary, that they " knew every foot of 
the ground " of our route. Their names were Pet- 
tibone and Nichols. They were both a little past 
middle hfe, and for nearly twenty years had been 
companions in the venturesome and arduous em- 
ployment of hunting and trapping, and had occa- 
sionally served as interpreters for white men in their 
relations with several of the western Indian tribes ; 
— with all the good qualities and as small a number 
of vices as ever characterized men of their vocation. 
Their services proved invaluable to us throughout 
our journey. 

Mr. Barstow had spent a year in Manitoba, and 
therefore knew something of the Indian character. 
Neither Mr. Warrington nor I had been west of the 
Mississippi. Mr. Merideth w^as a New Orleans 
merchant. Messrs. Trask and Hervey were both 
Kentuckians, both remarkably expert in the use of 
the rifle, and both had seen the mountains of Mon- 
tana. It had been my good fortune to have long 
and intimately known all the gentlemen of our 
party, whom I now take great pleasure in introdu- 
cing to the reader. 

On the afternoon of August 1st we went on board 
the " Elliot," and were soon gliding down the river. 
An hour-and-a-quarter after our departure, we had 
reached the mouth of the Missouri — a distance of 
twenty miles from St. Louis — and were well satis- 
fied with the speed of our httle steamer. This 
point, as the reader is aware, is 1,270 miles distant 
from the Gulf of Mexico. The length of the Mis- 



122 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

souri above its confluence with the Mississippi is 
3,100 miles, and from its source to the Gulf its length 
is 4,350 miles — the longest river in the world. Ris- 
ing in the Rocky Mountains, in the northwest part 
of Montana, flowing east till it reaches Dakota, 
passing through the middle of that Territory, form- 
ing the eastern boundary of Nebraska and a part of 
Kansas, the river then runs almost due east through 
the upper third of Missouri, till it finally reaches 
the Mississippi. It affords an uninterrupted hne of 
steamboat navigation to the Great Falls, 3,000 miles 
from the gulf. The Missouri and its tributaries 
drain a greater extent of territory than any other 
system of rivers in the world; and in addition to 
this, its valley is more productive and capable of sus- 
taining a greater population than any other region 
of equal area. 

The Indians call the Missouri the " Big Muddy," 
a very appropriate if not elegant name. At the con- 
fluence of the two grand rivers, the view is very 
beautiful. There are no high bluffs, but the taU 
sycamore, birch and cottonwood trees that over- 
hang the banks and cast dark shadows upon the wa- 
ters beneath, is a scene of beauty, and especially by 
moonhght. A thousand brilliant stars twinkle in 
the sky above, and a thousand brilhant gems are re- 
flected in the expanse of waters beneath us. The 
wavelets that sparkle so brightly seem to recede, 
and the waters to spring from an inexhaustible 
fountain beneath us, flowing silently on in their mis- 
sions forever. 

The first point of interest on the Missouri is the 
"City of St. Charles, one of the oldest towns west of 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 123 

the Mississippi, and a place of considerable commer- 
cial importance. It is situated on elevated ground, 
on the north side of the river, and contains a popu- 
lation of about 8,000. It was settled by the 
French, in 1764. A substantial iron bridge here 
spans the river. Formerly the cars of the North 
Missouri Eailroad, that now run over it, were trans- 
ported from one side of the river to the other in 
boats. Many manufacturing establishments are lo- 
cated here, and in every respect St. Charles wiU fa- 
vorably compare with any city of its size in the 
West. 

Passing Hermann, the capital of Gasconade Coun- 
ty, which is seventy miles above St. Charles, we 
soon reach the mouths of the Gasconade and Osage 
rivers, both of w^hich flow in from the south. The 
latter is navigable for steamboats for more than two 
hundred miles. Ten miles above the mouth of the 
Osage is Jefl'erson City, the Capital of Missouri. 

The city is situated on a bluff on the right bank 
of the river, 155 miles distant from St. Louis. The 
capitol, which occupies a prominent site on a high 
bluff near the river, is a magnificent structure, and 
was built at a cost of a quarter- of- a-milh on dol- 
lars. The city contains a population of about 5,000. 
Apart from being the Capital of the State, Jefferson 
City is of but little im^Dortance. Many of the neigh- 
boring towns surpass it in commerce and manufac- 
tures. The river here is only a quarter of a mile in 
width, but is very deep and rapid. 

Steaming on, up the river, we are charmed by the 
picturesqueness and grandeur of the scenery. Eocky 
bluffs rise abruptly from the water's edge to the 



124 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

height of a hundred and fifty feet. Clambering- 
^dnes, adorned with beautiful and fragrant flowers, 
creep out from the crevices in the walls and cover 
them with dehcate drapery. We pass long reaches, 
of ghttering white sand that has been w^ashed 
hither by the swift current of the waters. On the 
low "Bottom Lands" there are immense fields of 
corn ripening for the harvest. Long lines of wil- 
lows lave their slender branches in the flowing 
stream, and wherever we look, the eye is delighted 
with a scene of beauty. 

Boonville, the county seat of Cooper County, is. 
situated on the south side of the river. This coun- 
ty is one of the richest in the State for agriculture, 
and for its deposits of iron, coal, lead and marble. 
This city formerly controlled the entire trade of the 
Southwest. One of the battles of the late war was^ 
fought here, but such was the skiU of the contend- 
ing forces, that nobody was hurt. 

The low bottom lands on the opposite side of tha 
river are very hable to inundation, and during a. 
freshet the river at this point is truly majestic. 
The low^ lands, about six miles in width, are then 
entirely inundated, appearing hke a vast lake. 

We pass on from Boonville in full view of some of 
the most fertile and highly cultivated land in the 
State. Cooper and Sahne Counties on the south, 
and Howard County on the north of the river. Ten 
years ago these three counties yielded a mihion 
bushels of wheat. On the rich bottom lands the 
soil is twenty feet deep. The immense fields of 
hemp are enough to strike terror to the hearts of 
the boldest highwaymen. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 125 

Swinging around a large bend in the river, the 
"beautiful little city of Glasgow, Howard County, 
hursts suddenly into view. It stands upon a bluff 
and presents a fine appearance from the river. It 
was here that General Green, of the Confederate 
army, in the fall of 1861, after displaying great skill 
in eluding a superior Union force, effected a cross- 
ing of the river and joined General Price in the 
siege of Lexington. A short distance below the 
•city is a large and dangerous har of quicksand, into 
which a man wiU instantly sink to his waist. 

Flowing in from the north, a httle beyond Glas- 
gow is the Chariton river. The steamer made a 
landing at Brunswick, at some distance above, and 
I availed myself of the opportunity of making a 
hasty visit to an old classmate, who hved a few 
miles north of the river. The visit was an experi- 
ence never to be forgotten. 

The locality in which my friend was estabhshed 
in practice, was a httle settlement two or three 
miles from the Chariton River, with the most un- 
promising outlook for future greatness. I arrived, 
at length, after a long and hard drive over some of 
the worst roads I had ever passed and which more 
than once caused me to regret the undertaking. 

The shades of night were closing around causing 
the tall Cottonwood trees, which were outhned 
against the murky sky, to resemble giant sentinels 
standing guard over the forest, when a horseman 
appeared in sight riding at fuU speed toward the 
settlement, and came dashing up to the Doctor's 
cabin ; his appearance betrayed intense excitement, 
while his horse was flecked with foam, having evi- 



126 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

dently made a long and rapid journey. He hurriedly 
informed the Doctor that there had been a fight 
between two of "the boys" at Post's Mills; that 
both had been " shot all to pieces," and the Doc- 
tor's presence was desired forthwith. This demand 
for the Doctor's attendance was a remarkable ex- 
pression of confidence in the skill of my friend, 
implying very miraculous power for w^hich I had 
never given him credit. It was evident that some 
terrible affair had indeed occurred, and considering 
the rash temper of many of the frequenters of the 
Mills, it was not at all unhkely that there had been 
bloody work. The Doctor had long resided in that 
vicinity, knew well the character of the people 
there, and had often been called to such scenes of 
strife and bloodshed. 

I volunteered to accompany him, an offer he 
gladly accepted. We buckled on our revolvers, 
mounted our horses, and under the guidance of 
the stranger dashed off through the fast-increasing 
gloom. 

The sun had gone down behind a heavy mass of 
threatening clouds, and the "night was quite dark, 
but those accustomed to travehng by night soon 
gain the power to penetrate even a degree of dark- 
ness, and we urged on our horses in safety, but not 
without difficulty. 

The locahty where the affair had transpired, 
which created so much excitement, w^as on an arm 
of the Chariton river, on the west side — a place 
known as Post's Mills, eight miles, at least, beyond 
the river. A darker and more lonely road could 
not be found, even in this wild region of country — 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 127 

the wildest in the State. It lay through dark and 
dismal woods, abounding with wild animals and 
often traversed by desperate men. 

We pushed onward as rapidly as possible. Arriv- 
ing at the river, we led our horses on board of a 
small flat-boat which the messenger had, with dif- 
ficulty, ferried over and moored,— the old ferryman 
not being at his post. Using the clumsy oars with 
a will, we soon reached the opposite shore, then 
mounting our horses again, we arrived at the Mills 
after another hard ride. The Doctor's visit was 
useless, for one of the men engaged in the affray 
was dead, and the other was mortally wounded — 
the messenger's statement at the Doctor's cabin 
having been hterally true. It required but a single 
glance to know that the man's moments of hfe were 
numbered. The Doctor rendered the sufferer as 
comfortable as possible, and in comphance with the 
whispered request, promised to write to the man's 
friends in Virginia. 

Never will the scenes of that night be forgotten. 
In a low and comfortless room, upon a cot, lay the 
dying man, and there about him stood a half-dozen 
rough-looking men, w^ho evidently were ever ready 
for strife and deadly encounters upon the slightest 
provocation, but now awed into silence by the pres- 
ence of ghastly death. The dim hght of a sohtary 
candle, standing upon a block that served as a table, 
made the figures weird and terrible, while the low 
rumbhng of distant thunder presaging a coming 
storm, and the vivid flashes of hghtning that at 
times illuminated the room, rendered the scene im- 
pressive and awful. The Doctor turned away, for 
the man was dead. 



128 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The storm, wliicli had been gathering for several 
hours, now burst in all its fury ; the tall trees with 
their huge branches swayed and trembled in the 
blast, like the masts of some fragile vessel in a gale; 
the lightning hissed through the air, and the artil- 
lery of heaven sent forth peal after peal that made 
the very earth tremble. 

Wliile we w^aited for the storm to abate, one of 
the men related the circumstances attending the 
duel which had ended in the death of the combat- 
ants. The men were drinking whisky and playing 
cards, when a dispute arose between them, and a 
duel instantly took place, with pistols, at a distance 
of six paces. It was a deadly contest between two 
desperate men, who regarded an imputation upon 
their " honor " an offense which could only be ex- 
piated by resort to duelling. 

By the time the man had finished his account of 
the horrible affair, the storm had abated sufficiently 
to allow us to depart. We mounted our horses and 
started homeward. Riding in silence, making our 
way along the road, which was frequently obstruct- 
ed by trees that had been prostrated by the furious 
storm, we meditated upon the scene we had just 
witnessed. After a time the clouds passed away, 
leaving the sky clear and the moon shining upon 
the clearing with a light almost as bright as day. 
Not a word had been spoken for the first mile or 
two, our close attention being required to avoid ac- 
cidents. Suddenly a long starthng howl broke the 
stiUness, causing us almost involuntarily to rein up 
our horses and to hsten. Was it possible that we 
were pursued by bloodhounds? Before I had time 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 129 

to ask the question, the Doctor exclaimed, " Heaven 
preserve us ! The wolves are upon our track ! We 
must ride for our lives or we cannot escape them! " 
All that I had ever read or heard of such perils 
flashed upon my mind. We started off at break- 
neck speed, endeavoring to keep in the road as best 
we could, it being our hope to reach the Chariton 
before the wolves could overtake us, and then we 
might cross in safety. We urged our horses on- 
ward at their utmost speed — winding and twisting 
among the fallen trees and beneath the dripping 
branches that completely drenched us as we passed, 
and in imminent peril of having our brains dashed 
•out in the mad flight, but even this fate was prefer- 
able to falling into the merciless jaws of our pur- 
suers. 

At frequent and lesser intervals, came those 
blood-chilhng howls, increasing in volume as if by 
fresh accessions of numbers, and sounding nearer 
and nearer. Onward we dashed, but swift as was 
our flight — fortunately we were well mounted — the 
hungry wolves came more swdftly. Looking back- 
ward, we could dimly distinguish a dark mass of 
countless demons, leaping forward, and but a few 
hundred yards in the rear, while the short, snapping 
bark of the animals sounded ominiously of ap- 
proaching fate. 

Soon on either hand, could be distinctly descried 
the dark, leaping forms keeping pace with the 
horses, their red, glaring eye-balls gleaming with 
fearful distinctness. We discharged our revolvers 
with good effect at the foremost of the pack, that 
were now within a few feet of us ; this had the effect 



130 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

of keeping the ferocious beasts from seizing upon the 
snorting, terrified horses, but should the noble ani- 
mals stumble and fall, they would never rise again, 
and mth so terrible a calamity, our fate w^ould have 
been quicklj^ sealed. 

The speed with which we advanced soon brought 
us safely to the river, where w^e confidently hoped 
to escape by means of the ferry boat in w^hich w^e 
had crossed several hours before, but a single glance 
at the river dispelled that hope, for the storm 
had swollen the waters to a flood, and in their 
might they had risen far above and beyond the 
banks and had swept the boat away. It was death 
to stop, and almost equally perilous to plunge into 
the rushing waters ; even there, however, was the 
ghmmering of hope, and not for an instant did we 
hesitate, but made the fearful attempt. The horses 
exerted their utmost strength, but their race for 
hfe had exhausted them to such a degree that they 
were borne rapidly down the stream. The wolves 
followed no further than the w^ater's edge. Having 
escaped death in its most terrible form, we now 
struggled for our hves with the foaming, rushing 
waters. I w^as about six or eight yards in advance, 
my horse being the more powerful of the two. On 
looking back, I discovered to my horror what ap- 
peared to be a huge log coming down upon my 
companion, who discovered it at the same moment 
and struggled hard to escape it ; but his efforts were 
in vain — the moving mass, whatever it was, struck 
the horse, causing the animal, and with him the 
rider, to sink from sight ; the horse instantly disen- 
gaged itseK, but my friend had been borne down 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 131 

by the swift current. Holding to the horse's mane 
and strugghng by his side, I reached the shore. 

Again mounting, I rode along the river side in 
the hope of discovering the body of my ill-fated 
companion, but in vain. Cold, wet and utterly 
exhausted, I rode to the Doctor's cabin, on the sad- 
dest errand a friend can perform — to convey the 
melancholy tidings to the Doctor's family. 

It was already early dawn — a night of horror had 
passed, and an hour after sunrise I was again on 
board the steamer, which now proceeded on her 
course. 

Brunswick is near the mouth of Grand Eiver, in 
Chariton County. It is one of the oldest towns in 
the State, and is an important point on the St^ 
Louis & G-reat Northern Eailway, although its pop- 
ulation does not exceed 3,000. It formerly occupied! 
a beautiful site on the "bottom lands," but the 
river has gradually encroached upon its area and 
crowded the town back to the bluff, which the rest- 
less current is threatening to undermine. 

StiU borne along, winding around magnificent 
bends and by frequent landings that throng with 
crowds of whites and blacks, we arrive at Lexington,, 
the capital of Lafayette Coimty. It is situated upon 
the south bank, on an abrupt bluff' that completely 
hides its view from the river. Large warehouses 
and manufacturing estabhshments are located at 
the foot of the bluff near the steamboat landing. 
From the deck of the boat the entrance to an 
extensive coal-mine may be seen just above the 
landing. A good road to the town has been formed 
by a deep cut through the bluff. The city contains a 



132 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

population of about 6,0(X), a dozen or more churches, 
a good college, and the usual county buildings. In 
November, 1861, a Union force, 3,00C) strong, was 
•captured here by a superior force of the enemy. 
Lexington is a beautiful httle city, and controls the 
trade of a most productive territory. It is 370 miles 
distant from St. Louis, 

The next important point on the river is Kansas 
City, which its citizens proudly call "the metropo- 
lis of the West." It is situated upon the right 
hank of the river, in Jackson County, two miles 
below the mouth of the Kansas Eiver and the State 
line. By the river, Kansas City is 460 miles from 
8t. Louis, but by the Missouri Pacific Raih'oad the 
■distance is but 282 miles. The railroad buildings, 
important factories and numerous warehouses are 
situated at the base of the bluff upon which the 
city is chiefly built. The streets extend to the river 
through deep cuts in the bluff. The buildings in 
the business portion of the city are very imposing, 
and the streets are wide and regular, giving to the 
visitor a most favorable impression. The popula- 
tion of the city in 1860 was 4,418; in 1870 it was 
32,260 — an increase of 650 per cent. It is now 
probably 60,000. Few, if any cities in the Union, 
have ever equalled its ratio of increase. It is not 
of a mushroom growth, but possesses all the hardi- 
hood and vitality of the enduring oak. The causes 
that created it are still existing and will continue to 
increase its importance. It will doubtless in the 
future, as it has for the last quarter of a century, 
control the entire trade of the great Southwest. 
The many thousands who yearly seek homes on the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 135 

fertile lands of this region of the West, will pour 
their productions into the markets of this prosper- 
ous city. At a future day it will be a powerful rival 
of St. Louis. 

There are chambered mounds in the eastern part 
of Clay County, Missouri, which form a large group- 
on both sides of the Missouri river. The chambers 
are, in the three opened by Mr. Curtiss, about eight 
feet square, and from four- and- a-half to five feet 
high, each chamber having a passage way several feet 
inlength and two in width, leading from the southern 
side, and opemngonthe edge of the mound formed by 
covering the chamber and passage-way with earth. 
The walls of the chambered passages were about twO' 
feet thick, vertical, and well made of stones, which 
were evenly laid without clay or mortar of any kind. 
The top of one of the chambers had a covering of 
large flat rocks, but the others seem to have been 
covered over with wood. The chambers w^ere filled 
with clay which had been burnt, and appeared as if 
it had faUen from above. The inside waUs of the 
chambers also showed signs of fire. Under the 
burnt clay in each chamber, were found the remains 
of several human skeletons, all of which had been 
burnt to such an extent as to leave but small frag- 
ments of the bones, which were mixed with the 
ashes and charcoal. Mr. Curtiss thought that in 
one chamber he found the remains of five skeletons, 
and in another thirteen. With these remains there 
were a few flint implements and minute fragments, 
of earthen vessels. A large mound near the cham- 
bered anes was also opened, but no chambers were 
found therein ; neither had the bodies been burnt. 



134 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

This mound proved very rich in large flint imple- 
ments, and also contained well-made pottery, and a 
pecuhar " garget " of red stone. The connection 
of the people who placed the ashes of their dead in 
stone chambers with those who buried their dead 
in earth mounds is, of course, yet to be determined. 

We pass the mouth of Kansas Eiver, a long, wide 
but shallow stream, which is not navigable even for 
vessels of the lightest draught, a,nd land at Wyan- 
dotte, Kansas, just above the mouth of the river. 
This is a beautiful little city, located upon a bluff 
from which it commands a fine view of Kansas City, 
— in Missouri, two miles distant. It contains about 
5,000 inhabitants, but owing to the proximity of 
Leavenworth and Kansas City it is of but little 
commercial importance. 

At this point our entire party left the boat, which 
was to proceed to Leavenworth to await our arrival, 
and pursued our way westward, with the purpose of 
first seeing the Capital, and then as it was the time 
the buffalo hunting season usually begins, we pro- 
posed to try our luck in the pursuit of the roaming 
monarchs of the plains. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 135 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Beautiful Kansas — Topography of the State — Vast Prairies — Garae — 
The " Great American Desert " — The Lost Race of Men — Wonderful 
Discoveries — Topeka — Lawrence — A Hunting Expedition — Vast 
Herds of Buffaloes — Indians —Our Camp, 

Within the Hmits of the beautiful and flourishing 
State of Kansas is a population not far from a mil- 
lion, with cities and towns that for opulence, thrift 
and beauty, vie with any of similar size in any part 
of the United States ; there are farms of the great- 
est fertility, under the highest state of cultivation, 
Ihe varied productions of which are transported by 
steamers and railway trains to distant markets; 
numberless factories and workshops of various kinds, 
giving employment to scores of thousands of skilled 
artizans; educational institutions that rank with 
the best in our land, choice libraries, numberless 
churches, and all the concomitants of the highest 
culture and refinement ; and hither other thousands 
are coming every year, to share in the general thrift 
and prosperity which now distinguishes this fair 
land. 

Such marvels of enterprise, such grand achieve- 
ments, such glorious results as are apparent in 
very many locahties of the State, excite wonder 
and admiration, and especially in view of the fact 
that less than twenty-five years ago the entu^e ter- 
ritory of the State was only a vast Indian reserva- 
tion, upon which no wliite man might presume to 



136 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

build a habitation or pitch his tent without i)ermis- 
sion of the lords of the soil, the Red men, — that until 
the year 1854, the ever-memorable date of the re- 
peal of the Missouri Compromise — none but mis- 
sionaries and a very few w^hite traders ventured tO' 
cross the boundary which separated Savagery from 
Civihzation. What a glorious history is that of 
Kansas, as brief as it is ! What a glorious future 
will be hers ! 

When the portals of the State were opened by the 
act of the government, in rushed thousands of peo- 
ple from the Free States, from the Slave States, and 
from the Old World. Of the hardships and perils of 
the early settlements, we have no need to speak, the 
occurrences are so recent and the history so gener- 
ally known to all the civilized world. 

Kansas embraces an area of 80,000 square miles^ 
being about 400 miles in extent from east to west^ 
and 200 from north to south. Even writh the figures 
before us, it is not e'asy to conceive of the vast mag- 
nitude of this and others of our Western States. 
Kansas is far larger than the whole of New England 
whose sons and daughters in great numbers have 
here made their homes, and by their enterprise con- 
tributed largely to the prosperity of the State of 
their adoption. It is a vast undulating prairie — a 
magnificent savanna of remarkable fertility, wdiere 
Nature rewards enterprise and industry with ^ lav- 
ish hand. Many thousands of acres have been 
taken by actual settlers, and other millions of acres 
are waiting for other settlers yet to come. Under- 
lying portions of the State are various minerals of 
great value. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 137 

In regions where man has made his home, the 
mesquit and buffalo grasses are giving way to the 
blue grass, timothy and clover; the buffalo wal- 
lows are being broken up by the plough, trees are 
springing up in regions that formerly were treeless, 
creeks that were almost dry, now flow in abundance. 
In Eastern Kansas, there is a sufficiency of tim- 
ber to meet present requirements, and anew growth 
will maintain an adequate supply for future time. 
Here we find five varieties of oak — the red, white, 
black, burr and water ; then there is the elm, black 
and white walnut, butternut, cottonwood, box-elder, 
hackberry, honey locust, wiUow, hickory, sycamore, 
white ash, sugar maple, mulberry, hnden or bass- 
wood, crab-apple, wild-cherry and coffee-tree. Of 
shrubs and vines there are the elder, sumac, green- 
brier, gooseberry, hazel, paw-waw, prickly ash, rasp- 
berry, blackberry, prairie rose and grapes in great 
variety. Kansas, therefore, is not a " treeless waste," 
as some may have supposed, nor is it often subject 
to drought and the incursion of grasshoppers. The 
almost annual occurrence of prairie fires has to a 
considerable extent prevented the growth of forests, 
but where trees in great numbers have grown, the 
soil is less dry and the regions less liable to furious 
storms. 

In the western part of the State, there are vast 
tracts of prairie land extending over hundreds of 
miles, covered with buffalo grass; and over these 
plains, immense herds of buffaloes, antelopes and 
wild horses roam, seemingly undisturbed by the 
huntsman's rifle or the shrieking of the steam en- 
gine. These vast savannas are watered by streams 



138 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

varying in size from running brooks to great rivers 
and their branches — the Arkansas, Smoky Hill, 
Neosho and Kansas — all of which are skirted wath 
timber. The western part of the State is from 2,000 
to 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, and the 
climate is remarkably healthful. 

As we glance at our school maps over which in 
boyhood's days we used to puzzle, wondering if 
there were camels and occasional oases in the 
" Great American Desert " — printed in large letters 
just below — " Unexplored Territory " — where thirsty, 
scorched and weary men and beasts might find shel- 
ter and a cooling draught, we find that here is the 
locahty thereon described, but the oasis is every- 
where — the desert nowhere — but rather Nature's 
great flower garden where Eden might have been, 
and far more pleasant than the land of the Euphrates 
in our day. Wherever antelopes and deer and buf- 
faloes in countless herds find pasturage, and where 
from time immemorial they have ranged, there can- 
not be a desert. We must say to the venerable 
map-maker that he was a " blind leader of the blind," 
and unfitted to teach " the young idea how to 
shoot " — that there is no portion of the territory of 
the United States east of the Kocky Mountains 
that can with any degree of truth be called a desert ; 
and it is reasonable to infer that wherever buffaloes 
and antelopes and deer and wild-horses will thrive 
and fatten, domestic cattle will not greatly suffer 
for lack of sustenance. In Western Kansas, cattle 
■of the plains are as fat as those that are stall-fed in 
the East. 

In this State, the trade in Texas cattle is very 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 139 

large. They are annually brought in vast herds by 
Texan drovers to points along the Pacific Railroad. 

To the historian, the naturalist, scientist and 
archaeologist, as to the tourist, Kansas is a territory 
'Of great and special interest. We have spoken of 
the works of the Mound Builders. Recent discove- 
ries in this State afford still further traces of this 
mysterious race, or of those who may have been 
their enemies, or possibly of a race who lived and 
passed away even before the existence of the Mound 
Builders. The wrought stone implements found in 
the ancient river gravels of Cahfornia evidence that 
during or prior to the glacial period, the Pacific 
coast was inhabited by man. Recent archaeological 
explorations in Kansas show that at a period equally 
remote, this region was also inhabited by the human 
race. The geology of the region is simple. Prior 
to the drift epoch, the river channels were deeper 
than now, and the river valleys were lower. Sub- 
sequently the valleys were filled by a lacustrine 
deposit of considerable depth. In or beneath this 
last deposit, the remains of an extinct race appear. 

Such remains have been found at various depths 
in seven different counties along or near the Kansas 
Pacific Railroad, viz : Douglass, Pottawatomie, Ri- 
ley, Dickinson, Marion, Ellsworth and Lincoln 
Counties. With one exception, the remains have 
all been found on the second bottom or terrace of 
■streams, and consist of stone implements, pottery, 
human bones and bone implements. In most cases 
they were struck in digging wells at a depth of from 
twenty to thirty feet below the surface. In view of 
ifche fact that there is not more than one well to the 



14(1 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



square mile, in the counties named, and tlie area of 
a well forms but a very small fraction of a S(iiiare 
mile, the evidence is deemed suiiicient not only to 
prove the former existence of the buried race, but 
that they were very numerous. We can hardly 
assume that chance has directed the digging of 
wells oidy where human remains are buried. 
Whether the race existed before the glacial period 
or immediately after, is a matter of speculation. 
" Here," says West, " We have a buried race en- 




wrapped in a profound and startling mystery — a 
race whose ajipearance and exit in the world's dra- 
ma precede stupendous geological changes marking 
our continent and which, perhaps, required hun- 
dreds of thousands of yotirs in their accom])lish- 
ment. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 141 

By the middle of September at latest, we must 
return to the steamer, and as we have a project in 
view^ for visiting many distant, interesting localities 
before that time, we now proceed by rail to the 
State Capital. 

Topeka occupies a lovely and elevated site on the 
south bank of the Kansas Eiver, sixty-seven miles 
westward from Wyandotte. It is a beautiful, busy 
and eminently prosperous city. Its imposing and 
elegant buildings, located upon wide streets that are 
well shaded with trees, its general appearance of 
activity and thrift speak volumes for the enterprise 
and industry of the citizens. Here are flour mills, 
foundries, machine shops and manufactories, ware- 
houses and first-class mercantile establishments, aU 
teUing of the great extent of inland trade which 
conduces to the general prosperity. The elegant 
State-house and many other magnificent structures 
claimed our attention. The principal railroads that 
center here are the Kansas Pacific and the Atchi- 
son, Topeka & Santa Fe. The commercial rela- 
tions of the city with Santa Fe, greatly add to its 
prosperity. 

In 1860 the city contained less than 1,000 inhabit- 
ants, but now its population is at least 25,000. 

At a distance of thirty miles eastward from To- 
peka and thirty-eight miles from Leavenworth, on 
the Kansas River, is the city of Lawrence, quite as 
flourishing and prosperous as either, and containing 
a population of about 20,000. It is surrounded by 
a most fertile farming country, which is generally 
highly improved. The city is built on a rising ground, 
.and possesses many attractions. In addition to its 



142 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

railroad depots, factories, machine shops, mercantile 
establishments and other industries, its educational 
facilities are excellent. It is the seat of the State 
University, so well and favorably known through- 
out the West. The struggles and trials of the early 
settlers of Lawrence are well known to the general 
public. In 1856 a pro-slavery mob destroyed a vast 
amount of public and private property, but the 
greatest affliction the city sustained was in 1863, 
when the guerilla Quantrel and his band of murder- 
ers fell upon it and massacred 150 of the unarmed 
citizens, burned a great number of dwellings and 
committed other gross outrages. The act was uni- 
versally condemned by the people of the North and 
of the South, and everywhere the name of the 
monster whom it were base flattery to call man was 
execrated. So far from being warrantable by the cir- 
cumstances of war, it was the deed of the midnight 
assassin, the enormity, diabolism and cowardice 
which language is powerless to express. 

Having been fortunate enough in Topeka to ob- 
tain some fine and well- trained horses, and such 
supplies as we required — the latter not being a 
heavy purchase, as we had made ample provision 
of fire-arms, ammunition and other essential equip- 
ments in St. Louis, which articles were now brought 
forward by our hunters who had enjoyed a long holi- 
day at Leavenworth — we started on an expedition 
to the prairies of the Southwest. Leaving Topeka 
by the^anta Fe Eailway train, we were early on 
the qmvive to see the buffaloes of the plains, having 
hitherto seen only those of zoological gardens in the 
East. For a long time we watched in vain. Ante- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 143^ 

lopes occasionally favored us and prairie dogs innum- 
erable, perched upon their mud houses, could he 
seen, and only these. At last, in the dim distance, 
a solitary huffalo — perhaps on picket duty — glad- 
dened our eyes, but for miles we saw no more. 

At length we entered upon the range, and there 
we descried with delight vast herds of buffaloes, 
apparently extending for miles in all directions, 
huddled in distant masses hke islands of the sea; 
at other times these unwieldy animals were so per- 
sistent in their course that it became necessary to 
stop the train and wait till they had crossed the 
track — an occurrence which is here not so very 
uncommon. In the present instance it was explained 
by the appearance of a party of Indians, well mounted 
on agile horses, who followed in quick pursuit. 

It was an exciting chase, and greatly did we regret 
our inability to participate in it. Swift as the 
wind, pursuers and pursued dashed away, till the 
distance and clouds of dust concealed them from 
sight. Pettibone and Nichols, who observed our 
eager anxiety to join in the chase, assured us that 
our aid or our presence would be anything but wel- 
come to the natives, and if we wished to avoid 
" unpleasantness " we would strictly mind our own 
business. This course, so generaUy commendable 
in the affairs of life, we were constrained to foUow, 
as we were dashing onward at thirty miles an hour, 
and were a hundred miles distant from the station 
for which we had taken tickets. We consoled our- 
selves with the confident hope of similar sport to 
our heart's content a little later on. 

In Kansas there are about 10,000 Indians, nearly 



144 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

two-thirds of the number hving upon reservations, 
the others pursuing a nomadic hfe and subsisting 
by hunting. During the season when the buffaloes 
return to tlie north, tliey eat the grass of the whole 
country over w^hich they range, so closely that it 
seems barren of vegetation. 

The day was far advanced when we halted at the 
httle rude but brave station which was to be our 
point of landing. With httle difficulty we were 
soon mounted and ready for departure. Our course 
was toward the south. We had passed the Arkan- 
sas River, and now pushed onward as rapidly as pos- 
sible, hoping to reach an arm of the river, which 
would afford a suitable locality for an encampment 
for the night. 

We were now upon the boundless prairie, which 
presented a scene of surpassing grandeur and beauty 
indescribable. Our wish was at last accomphshed 
— the wish we had often expressed, of reaching 
the prairie country during the summer, before 
its beauties should be withered by the chilly winds 
of autumn. Of these vast plains of luxuriant ver- 
dure and beauteous flowers, much has been written 
but the half has not been told. 

With the first month of Spring, Nature dons her 
holiday dress. Beautiful flowers in endless variety 
and rank profusion cover the plain. Summer adds 
new beauties to the exquisite lovehness of the scene. 
From March till September there is presented to the 
eye a fascinating panorama of floral beauty of every 
tint and hue. 

"These are the gardens of the desert, these 
The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful. 
For which the speech of England has no name. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 145 

The Prairies! I behold them for the first, 

And my heart swells, while the dilated sight 

Takes in the encircling vastness. Lo, they stretch 

In airy undulations, far away, 

As if the Ocean in his gentlest swell, 

Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed 

And motionless forever. " 

Far away extends the limitless scene, bounded 
loj the horizon on every side, its green carpet richly 
variegated with countless thousands of wild flowers, 
while here and there at distant intervals, the surface 
is adorned with little groves of oak hke low islands 
risen from the sea. The general evenness of the 
ground is sometimes broken by mounds where may 
sleep the unknown dead. MiUions of human beings 
may have passed over the broad expanse in the ages 
that have gone, as we are passing now. In the 
years that are to come, great cities will rise upon 
this ground and the sons of toil will convert these 
vast savannas into wheat fields, whose abundance 
may supply less favored regions of the globe. 

The scene is now transcendently beautiful. Upon 
this hmitless plain, the tall grass waves gently in 
the breeze, bending, rising, rolhng to and fro hke 
the waves of the ocean ; and indeed the traveler 
feels that he is at sea beyond the sight of land, and 
he looks in vain to catch a glimpse of one single 
fading outline of the far-off shore ; the creaking of 
masts and cordage and the ocean's roar only are 
wanting to render the illusion complete, as the 
traveler wanders entranced in the midst of an inim- 
itable flower garden. 

During the autumnal months of dry weather, the 
vegetation is converted into combustible materials 

10 



146 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

that burns with terrible fury, consuming everything 
when perchance a flame has once been hghted. 
The burning prairie presents a scene, especially in 
the night, transcendently grand and subhme. No 
spectacle can be more awful than such a night 
scene — a river of flame of miles in breadth, rushing 
with fury over these plains, leaving behind it a 
dense black cloud, all devouring as it goes, casting 
before it a vivid glare which illumes the whole 
landscape with the brilliancy of noon-day, and pic- 
tui'es pandemonium on the sky. A roaring, crack- 
ling sound is heard hke the rushing of a hurricane 
or the thundering of Niagara's mighty waters. The 
lurid flame rising high into the air in a sheet of 
bhnding brightness, now low sinking to the earth, 
its fury seemingly passed, but quickly darting up- 
ward hke millions of fiery serpents or hke the spray 
of dashing waves upon a rock-bound shore ; anon it 
is a boihng, seething sea of dazzling brilliancy — a 
scene of subhmity that defies description. Trav- 
elers not unfrequently have found escape impossible 
and perished in the raging element. 

As we rode onward Nichols recoimted several 
instances within his knowledge where emigrant 
parties had thus fallen victims to this horrid fate. 
I was especially deeply touched by one, where a 
whole family consisting of seven so perished. 

They had been many long and weary weeks upon 
the journey, and were within a few days' travel of 
their place of destination, full of hfe and hope, re- 
joicing that their trials were well-nigh ended, and 
building air-castles as they discoursed of their fu- 
ture home. At the close of a balmy and beautiful 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 147 

day in Autumn, the father and eldest daughter went 
in advance of the emigrant wagons to a httle grove 
not far away, where the party proposed to encamp 
for the night. They kindled afire beneath a covert of 
large trees and were preparing the evening repast, 
when by some means the dry grass caught fire. The 
wind was blowing directly toward the advancing par- 
ty, and in a few moments the prairie was on fire — the 
httle flickering blaze had become a sea of flame. 
The dry grass caught hke tinder, and sent up broad 
sheets of fire that every instant widened. The hor- 
ror, the unspeakable agony of the loving and loved 
ones can only be imagined, for when the morning 
dawned, the Indians, who passed over the desolate 
and blackened plain, discovered the charred bodies, 
of the ill-fated emigrants. The details of the hor- 
ror can never be known, but this is certr.in, that 
father and daughter gave up their lives in the vain 
attempt to rescue the others, for had they remained 
in the grove they would have been safe. Their he- 
roic efforts had involved them in the common fate 
of the other members of the family. 

To fully describe the Western prairies is impossi- 
ble. To be known in all their grandeur they must 
be seen. The people of the East are accustomed to 
a great variety of natural scenery — often of beauty 
and subhmity, — dense unbroken forests covered 
with fohage, mountains and vales, beautiful rivers 
and bays studded with islands, but in the great 
West only can be seen the magnificence of the 
boundless prairie. 

We had traversed many miles without the shght- 
est incident of interest to the general reader. The 



148 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

exciting spectacle we had witnessed from the rail- 
way train had vanished, and neither buffalo nor In- 
dian had since been seen. Both Barstow and War- 
rington had busied themselves collecting floral spec- 
imens, while Pettibone and the two Kentuckians 
had disappeared together, in quest of game. It w^as 
late in the afternoon when they intercepted us upon 
the route, bringing with them a couple of birds and 
a deer as their trophies. The sun was far down the 
sky, giving rare tints of beauty to the fleecy clouds, 
when the hunters announced that we were not far 
distant from a large water-course and a belt of tim- 
ber, but from what indications they formed this 
opinion we knew not, for to us the scene was change- 
less ; but soon the prediction was verified ; to the 
:southw^est, perhaps a league distant, we descried the 
outhne of a forest, and quickening our speed, w^e 
•soon reached the timber — a tall growth of cotton- 
wood. 

In such lovely localities, as this we now entered, 
have sprung up thriving towns and hamlets all over 
the eastern section of the State. As tliis site of 
beauty appeared to us, so have other similar sites 
«,ppeared to the hardy pioneers who have gone forth 
from the bounds of civihzation to plant in Western 
wilds the villages and cities from which other 
pioneers will journey forth upon a similar mission. 
So came the men and the women to the fertile lands 
of Kansas, before the railroads, that now are highways 
of travel throughout the State, had been dreamed of 
by even the most visionary speculator, certainly 
bad not been constructed, and the Indians and the 
traders had it aU their own way, and sent up shouts 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 149' 

and shrieks that made the forest ring, and startled 
the wild deer of the plain — perhaps as loud and 
shrill as any that now come from the hrazen throat 
of the locomotive, that wondrous mechanism that 
drives all before it, and bears in its fiery train the 
wealth of remote cities, as it comes dashing and 
thundering along its course. The wild beasts fled 
before it, the Indians followed them, and the pioneer 
followed both, with axe and torch ; the monarchs of 
the forest, from whose wide extending arms hung 
heavy festoons of moss of varying hue, and whose 
huge trunks were ivy-twined, fell with echoing 
crash; fires consumed the underbrush, and only 
occasional charred stumps and scathed trees re- 
mained ; even these vestiges soon gave way to the 
village church, w^hose slender spire rose heaven- 
ward, and to the little red school-house ; then came 
corner lots, with fortunes in them, then pretentious 
cities rose, and rural simplicity gave way to opulence 
and splendor. So have risen all over the West the 
great cities of which all Americans are justly proud. 
Here, then, we were at last, in a beautiful grove- 
upon the banks of an arm of the Arkansas, with its 
gigantic trees, and its tender saplings peering up- 
Tvard so proudly, and yet not half as high as the 
vines that coil about large trunks and far-reaching 
branches, ambitious to clamber above the waving 
tree-tops, and bask in the glorious sunshine that 
here and there steals down between the heavy foh- 
age to see how the httle woodland flowers and dainty 
shrubs and pretty mosses are prospering ; here the 
wild birds pursue their peaceful flight, and squirrels 
skip from bough to bough, always in a hurry, as if 



160 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

to make the most of their existence; the large 
streams abound with fish; here are prostrate trees, 
uprooted by the storms, tliese scathed and cleft 
trunks that have been blasted by the hghtning's 
stroke, but here is nothing to denote the havoc or 
the presence of man. 

All is silent as the tomb, except the shrill notes 
of birds, the cries of wild animals far away, the 
soughing of the wind sweeping through the tree- 
tops, and the rush of w^aters of a beautiful httle 
cascade that helps to swell the distant river. A 
lovely and suitable sight was this for oui* encamp- 
ment. 

A fire was soon kindled, and the deer and birds 
so opportunely taken, afforded a dehcious repast. 
Our horses were coraled, our tents pitched, our 
beds made — as well as could be done by piling up 
the boughs of trees and covering them with blank- 
ets — and so we began " house-keeping." 

The sun had long since sunk upon the bosom of 
the setting cloud, tinting the fleecy w^est with his 
gorgeous pencihngs. Night came on but the moon, 
high in the heavens, silvered each shrub and leaf 
and flower with mellow hght, intensifying the beauty 
of the scene, while the voices of Nature impressed 
the mind with a feehng of utter loneliness, but not 
of sadness. There upon the margin of the prairie 
at that hour was the place for silent thought. What 
the origin of these expansive tracts? Have they 
been reft of timber and gradually widened by the 
fires that annually sweep over them, or did the 
Almighty smooth these verdant lawns and leave 
them ever treeless? The settler, observing the 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 151 

groves springing up as by magic wherever the fires 
have been prevented for a few years, beheves they 
have been formed by the ravages of fires. 

And what of the various tribes with which the 
country has been successively peopled ? In remote 
ages, while Greece was in her infancy, perhaps be- 
fore the construction of the Pyramids of Egypt, 
here lived a race of men who knew something of 
the arts of civilized life. Here they plied their avo- 
cations — hved, labored, loved, hated, perished. In 
the West are their temples, their fortresses and 
their tombs. Will the research and the ingenuity 
of man yet tell us more of them, or mil oblivion and 
profound mystery ever veil their history ? Are there 
no hieroglyphics yet to be deciphered that will 
acquaint us with the knowledge of their fate — by 
what great catastrophe they were swept away? 
They were, and are not — all else is conjecture. Then 
came the red men, but yearly decreasing in num- 
bers, their history wiU soon close — the race be 
extinguished. Barbarianism recedes before the ad- 
vance of civihzation — heathenism before Chris- 
tianity. As with individuals, so with tribes, so 
with nations, vice and immorahty always presage 
•decay. 

As we were assembled about the camp fire, the 
hunters entertained us with some of their adven- 
iures, and Mr. Barstow related a thriUing incident 
in his own experience with the Sioux Indians, which 
may interest the reader as it interested us. 



152 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE IX. 

Tales About the Camp Fire— The Sioux Indians— A Scrap of History — 
A Thrilling Adventure. 

Tliere are many pleasanter things in life than a 
night visit from black wolves or even prowhng and 
cowardly coyotes, panthers, or even unfriendly In- 
dians, and hence the necessity of our establishing a 
night watch, and keeping a blazing fire during the 
night. These prudential measures settled and our 
duties understood, Mr. Barstow began his story, 
which was the more interesting for being true : 

" On the '20th of November, 186B, a party of 
twelve Sioux Indians wdth their families arrived in 
the colony of Ked River. They expressed their sur- 
prise that a large body of their people who had pre- 
ceded them had not arrived. Their statement, of 
course, produced some uneasiness in the colony, 
w^hich w'as not tranquilized by the appearance, on 
the 11th of December, of their friends, numbering 
sixty lodges, containing nearly 500 Sioux, whojwere 
in a state of absolute starvation. 

" These Indians, in nearly every instance, had 
been deeply implicated in the border massacres of 
Minnesota and Dakota, and as ill-disposed savages 
at w^ar with the Americans, and hkely to prove the 
occasion of bloodshed with the Salteaux of the 
neighborhood, they w^ere in every respect unwel- 
come. In their first interviews with the authorities- 
they frankly stated they had come to live and die in 



5^^?F^^4 




AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 



154 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the Eed Eiver settlement, where it was better for 
them to attempt to gain a hvehhood from the char- 
ity of the whites, than to return across the hne, to 
be shot by United States troops, or perish in the 
snow-drifts of the prairies. 

It had happened that the harvest of that year, in 
the colony, had been a failure. To add to the bur- 
dens of the settlers the fall buffalo hunt also had 
been a partial failure. These considerations caused 
the project to be openly discussed of driving away the 
Sioux by force. This was undoubtedly practicable. 
The blood-stained tribe had no guns, ammunition 
or means of defense, save their manifest helpless- 
ness, which would expose the settlers to the alter- 
native of murdering them in cold blood, or allowing 
them to freeze in the wretched lodges they had 
constructed to shelter them from immediate con- 
tact with the winter blasts. 

The spot they selected as the site of their camp, 
was Sturgeon Creek, about six miles w^est from Fort 
Garry. The people hving near the place may be 
said to have dwelt in a state of siege during the 
whole period of their residence. Windows and 
doors were kept perpetually closed, under fear of 
being entered by some watchful savage, ever ready 
to take advantage of any such opening which might 
present itself. The amount of assistance bestow^ed 
by the people on the spot was considerable, and 
highly creditable to the donors, who knew that 
everything given as a present to the Sioux was 
grudgingly and enviously remarked by the Sal- 
teaux, regular occupants of the settlement, who 
jealously regarded all such gifts as their own par- 
ticular perquisites. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 155 

The Sioux camp had gradually increased in num- 
l3ers towards the close of the year, to about six 
hundred, through the continued arrivals of small 
parties. Words can scarcely convey to those who 
have themselves seen nothing of the kind, any ade- 
quate idea of the extremity of the destitution to 
which these people were reduced. It was seen in 
the gaunt, skeleton look of the men, who came with 
hoarse voices, to implore aid at Fort Garry, and in 
the hopeless, wolfish glance of their eyes. It was 
with difficulty that they could be prevented from 
laying violent hands on anything eatable, and help- 
ing themselves. Most of them were, indeed, almost 
naked. 

The project of driving them away by force was 
not for a day entertained by the men in office. The 
act would have been tantamount to murder. They 
were without clothing, and the thermometer was 
ranging between twenty and forty degrees below 
zero. They had not even the necessary wire to 
snare a rabbit. Usually as much adverse to part 
with their children, to be educated by the whites, 
as the latter would be to abandon their offspring to 
them, they then sold their children gladly to any 
who would give them food in exchange. Three 
young white children whose parents has been mas- 
sacred, were taken from them and cared for by 
private settlers. The G-rey Nuns of the little Con- 
vent of St. Francois Xavoir took advantage of the 
presence of a party near their residence to purchase 
a boy and three girls from them, for an equivalent 
of 120 pounds of dried meat, and would have bought 
a greater number had they possessed the means to 
huy and care for them. 



156 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

"After being assured of a large supply of provis- 
ions, the Sioux promised the executive officer of 
the Hudson's Bay Company, Governor Dallas, to 
leave the settlement, and actually quitted their 
camp on the 25th of December. They did not, 
however, proceed farther than the out-post of White 
Horse Plain, twenty-five miles from Fort Garry. 
There they halted and demanded ammunition, 
which was peremptorily refused, though not with- 
out strong misgiving that they w^ould helx) them- 
selves. This they did not attempt, and some more 
provisions were distributed among them through 
the agenc}^ of private parties so employed that the 
Indians might not know they were indebted to the 
government, which had they known, might have 
encouraged them to increase their demands. 

" To the great dissatisfaction of the Salteaux, they 
then spread themselves in bands over the country. 
A large number of them w^ent to Lake Manitoba, 
and were extremely successful in catching jack fish 
under the ice. The provisions supplied them on the 
public account were estimated at a total value of 
about M400. 

" Early in January, 1864, an event occurred which 
gave a decided impetus to their withdrawal from the 
colony. Some oificers attached to Major Hatch's 
battalion, then stationed at Pembina, on the bound- 
ary hne between the British possessions and the 
United States, visited the settlement and gained 
some of its residents over to their interests, to such 
an extent that they cordially entered into a scheme 
for kidnapping some of the principal chiefs. ' ' Little 
Six," a half-brother of " Little Crow," and one of his. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 157 

followers named "Medicine Bottle," were selected 
as the men to be caught. These Indians had been 
particularly conspicuous in the Minnesota massacre, 
the former having on one occasion surrounded a 
school-house filled with little children, locked the 
door and fired the building. They were at that time 
connected with the main band located near Lake y 
Manitoba. At an appointed date, a half-breed was 
engaged to visit the Sioux camp, and with an ap- 
pearance of urgency and haste, to induce the two 
chiefs to accompany him back to Fort Garry to meet 
in council with Governor Dallas. The Indians were 
suspicious, but were at last prevailed upon to go, 
and the driver timed his gait so as to reach the town 
shortly after dark. 

" There they were landed at the store of a Scotch 
free-trader, shown into a back room, andtold to make 
themselves comfortable until the arrival of the Gov- 
ernor. Meanwhile they were engaged in conversa- 
tion through interpreters, and freely phed with liq- 
uor. As the drinking continued, the glasses given 
to the unsuspecting chiefs were fiUed with laudanum, 
only shghtly flavored with spirits. As a result, in a 
short time they were insensible. Dog-sledges were 
in readiness, and on these the Indians were laid pros- 
trate and bound down securely with ropes. Two 
half-breed drivers made the journey to Pembina in 
one night— about seventy-five miles— the Indians 
not awaking until, to their surprise and consterna- 
tion, they found themselves securely bound and sur- 
rounded by a group of soldiers, under the command of 
Major Hatch. From thence they were f orw^arded to 
Fort SchneHing, where, after due trial, they were 
condemned and executed. 



158 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

'' In May, of the same year, another event oc- 
curred to hasten their departure from the colony. 
Early in that month, the party which had gone to 
pass the winter in fisliing under the ice in Lake Man- 
itoba, were awakened one night by the discharge of 
firearms. They found themselves suiTOunded by a 
party of Eed Lake Chippeways, who continued firing 
into the lodges until break of day, killing six of the 
Sioux outright, and so seriously wounding a number 
of others that fourteen subsequently died. The 
Sioux being unable to retahate effectually, only one 
of the attacking party fell a victim to a stray shot^ 
and at sunrise the rest departed. 

" The lesson was not lost upon the Sioux, and those 
who were hovering in small bands up and down the 
colony, realized that they were in an enemy's coun- 
try, and the majority of those who had wintered in 
the settlement finally made a peaceful exit along 
with the Summer Plain hunters. Those who were 
most notorious in acts of barbarity in the border 
massacre, however, remained behind, fearful of that 
recognition in the United States which must come 
sooner or later. They numbered nearly 200 souls, 
including, of course, their families. During the 
summer they moved beyond the outskirts of the 
settlement, and in the fall of that year took up a 
permanent abode in the Riding Mountains, west of 
Lake Manitoba, where they still remain. 

" I have been thus minute in recording the move- 
ments of this band of Sioux, both as a matter of 
history, and to account for their presence in the 
Territory where the events which I am about ta 
relate transpired. 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 159' 

" I had spent the greater part of the early spring 
months of the year 1868 in shooting water-fowl 
among the islets and estuaries of Lake Manitoba, 
I established my headquarters at a Company's post, 
.over whose affairs an intimate friend presided, and 
from thence made prolonged forays on the feathered 
tribes. As the season advanced, however, my taste 
for that sport weaned, and I sought other modes of 
chase and fresh fields for excitement and adventure. 
In the month of June, I fell in with one Pierre 
Lavie, a French and Cree half-breed of hfe-long 
experience in the wilds of the Northwest." 

" Bless me ! " exclaimed Pettibone. " I know Lavie 
as well as I do any of the boys." 

" Then Lavie might safely boast of your acquain- 
taince. But as I was saying, at the recommenda- 
tion of my Hudson's Bay friend, I joined myself to 
him as the most suitable person under whose guid- 
ance to acquire the experience I sought; and I 
was assured if I foUowed him, I would not lack for 
adventure. Lavie had been formerly in the employ 
of the Company as a trader among the Indians, and 
had thus acquired an intimate acquaintance with 
the habits and traits of all the tribes from the Mis- 
souri to the Saskatchewan, and from Lake Superior 
to the Eocky Mountains. He was a linguist, and 
spoke with fluency seven Indian dialects. He was 
about forty-seven years of age ; had been thirteen 
years in the Company's service, and had followed 
trapping, plain hunting and trading for a consid- 
erable longer period. The physical build of the 
man was perfect — tall, powerful and athletic ; in. 
color nearly resembhng an Indian, but in aU else 



lOU LIF^ IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

white, when among whites. He s])oke Enghsh in a 
tolerable fashion, and unlike most half-hreeds, w^as 
willing to speak it when he experienced my lame 
French. 

" Lavie proposed spending the summer in trading 
among the bands of Indians scattered over the Ter- 
ritory embraced in the triangle of which Lake Mani- 
toba, Swan River and Fort EUice would form the 
angles. I arranged to accompany him partly as an 
assistant and partly as a passenger, if I may use 
the word, whom he was to teach the mysteries of 
plain and woodcraft, to protect and care for, in con- 
sideration of a certain sum of Her Majesty's coin 
in hand paid. 

" It was the 12tli of June, if I remember aright, 
when we left Oak Point, on Lake Manitoba. Our 
outfit consisted of three of the wooden carts of the 
country, drawn by as many ponies, and an extra 
saddle-horse, in case of need. I had proposed riding 
a horse of my own, but in consideration of the fact 
that w^e would not enter a buffalo country, and the 
trouble his care would cause me, I relinquished the 
project; all the more easily because I knew the 
extra pony w^as at my service when desired. 

" The carts w^ere loaded with our personal effects 
— scant enough — a skin tent, and the outfit of goods 
for the Indian trade. In this outfit I had, at the 
invitation of Lavie, and by the advice of my friend, 
invested a small capital. The half-breed was doubt- 
less influenced in his invitation by the idea that my 
being pecuniarily interested in the outfit would have 
the effect of rendering me careless in the j^ursuit of 
the chase, and more attentive to the object of his 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 161 

labors — a profitable trade ; while my friend, by his 
advice, simply felt assured that I could pay the ex- 
penses of my trip in that way. Lavie proposed 
taking into our company an adopted boy named 
* Johnny,' a young hah-breed, about fourteen years 
of age. 

" As I said before, on the 12th of June we started 
across the base of our triangle, following the well- 
beaten Saskatchewan road for Fort Elhce, at the 
confluence of Beaver Creek and the Assiniboine. 
Our immediate object in pursuing this route was to 
intercept the late plain hunters and Indians on their 
way to the settlement to dispose of their winter's 
catch of furs, and if possible barter our outfit. 
Nothing occurred on the journey save the ordinary 
routine of plain life. On reaching the vicinity of 
the fort, we were agreeably surprised to find a large 
number of Indians and hunters encamped, and suc- 
ceeded so well in trade, that in a comparatively 
short time our entire supply of goods was converted 
into robes and fine furs. 

" Pleased with our success, it was determined to 
send Johnny back to Oak Point w^ith the furs and 
two of the carts, where he was to store his load, and 
obtain a new supply of goods from my friend ; re- 
turning to meet us at a point on Pine Creek, betw^een 
Fort Elhce and the Kiding Mountains, where we 
would await his arrival. His absence need not ex- 
ceed three weeks. Johnny, starting back in company 
with some liaK-breed traders, Lavie and myself with 
the remaining cart and spare horse, directed our 
.steps toward the head waters of Pine Creek. 

" The country in the region of Pine, Shell and Oak 



162 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Creeks, dignified on the maps by the name of rivers,, 
partakes entirely of the character of the prairie. 
Over the level expanse are scattered bluffs of cotton- 
wood trees, whose blackened stems betray the rav- 
ages of the annual prairie fires sweeping through 
them." 

" What do you mean by bluffs of trees?" asked 
Warrington, who was a great stickler for the King's 
Enghsh. 

" The term bluff is used to designate a small grove, 
clump of trees, or a copse. The prairies of British 
America abound with them. Though the term may 
not be strictly correct, yet it is the one invariably 
used in the North, and so I adopt it. 

" The streams are worn into the loose soil, far be- 
neath the surface, and are bounded by precipitous 
banks. The prairies abound in numerous varieties 
of small game, varied, however, with a bear, occas- 
ionally, and herds of cabre deer ; while the waters 
yield a plentiful supply of water-fowl and fish. Over 
this Arcadian territory, Lavie and I wandered rest- 
lessly, hunting and fishing, for two weeks, meeting 
with but an occasional savage, and disturbed by 
none. The Salteaux and the Crees, however, range 
over this portion of country, and are peaceably dis- 
posed. 

'' Surfeited at last with the, to him, monotonous 
life, Lavie suggested, one evening as we sat by the 
camp fire, that in the week intervening before the 
return of Johnny, we pay a visit to the Sioux camp, 
in the Eiding Mountains. The object to be attained 
by the visit was to ascertain the amount of peltries 
they had for barter, and to open negotiations for 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 163 

trade on the arrival of our goods. The project im- 
pressed me favorably. The idea of any personal 
danger being involved in the visit never occurred to 
me, as I supposed the Sioux would take me for an 
Enghshman or a Canadian — I never dreamed of be- 
ing taken for an American, though of all nationah- 
ties next to my own I would prefer being counted as 
one of you." 

"Aye, aye," approvingly exclaimed Warrington^ 
whose rubicund face, broad shoulders, capacious 
chest and obesity, will never lead to a mistake in his 
nationahty. Barstow continued : 

"On the following morning we started, and 
reached the mountains toward their northern ex- 
tremity, and following an easterly direction, arrived 
at the Sioux camp on the morning of the third day. 
It was situated in a dense grove of cottonwood on 
the banks of a small stream, to which ours bears a, 
resemblance. The number of lodges forming the 
httle village was twenty-seven. The chief in com- 
mand was named " The Leaf," and had borne a con- 
spicuous part in the Minnesota massacre. 

" It was about seven o'clock in the morning when 
we arrived, having started at day-break and made a 
stage before breakfast, and we found the majority 
of the male portion of the village in camp. We rode 
boldly up, loosed our horses and turned them out to 
graze, Lavie all the while carrying on an animated 
conversation with the Sioux, by whom we were at 
once surrounded. He was a perfect master of the dia- 
lect, while I understood not a word. Our labor com- 
pleted, we entered the village, and partook of some 
meat, which was set before us. After this, we sat 



164 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and smoked, while Lavie sounded the Indians on the 
prospective trade. We had both retained our guns, 
and my own, a repeating rifle of the Henry pattern, 
lay across my knees, as I sat cross-legged on the 
ground. 

" A number of savages had approached closely to 
where I sat, and looked curiously at the gun, but 
had not touched it. As they had done so, I noticed 
that Lavie regarded them earnestly. At length one 
fellow, bolder than the rest, came in front of me, 
and looking me squarely in the eyes, took the rifle 
from my knees and proceeded to examine it. At a 
loss how to act, I looked to Lavie for a sign, but he 
was apparently engrossed in conversation and indif- 
ferent to what was going on. 

" The gun was however returned by the Indian, 
after a short examination, but had scarcely touched 
my knees when it was taken up by another. This 
time it was not returned, but w^as passed from hand 
to hand for an examination. I began to grow 
alarmed, and again looked toward Lavie, but he w^as 
stiU talking and apparently indifi'erent. My tran- 
quility was not augmented by the approach of an 
old Indian, who, after casting a searching glance in 
my face, sat down close beside me and touching me 
with his elbow, said — ' Yangee, Yangee.' 

" My alarm and excitement at this, and the spirit- 
ing away of my rifle, grew intense, and I cast an 
appealing glance at Lavie. He was just rising 
from the ground and apparently addressing his part- 
ing words to the ' Leaf.' In the calmest and most 
indifferent tones he told me to get my gun — then in 
the hands of an Indian on the outskirts of the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 165 

crowd — and follow him. As I knew that Lavie's 
intention had been to pass the day and night at the vil- 
lage, my suspicions of danger were more thoroughly 
than ever aroused. However, assuming as careless 
a manner as my excitement would permit, I ap- 
proached the Indian, took the gun from his hands 
and joined Lavie, who was harnessing the horse to 
the cart and still talking to the ' Leaf.' As I passed 
him, I hurriedly asked what was the matter, but a 
low ' keep still ' was the only reply. Suddenly 
thinking of the probabihty of some of the Sioux 
speaking Enghsh, I kept still. When the horses 
were ready, Lavie motioned me into the cart, while 
he, with farewells in gutteral Sioux, mounted the 
horse and took the trail in an opposite direction 
from that which he came. We trotted slowly off 
while within sight of the camp, but when a mile 
was placed between it and ourselves, and we were 
hidden from view by intervening bluffs of cotton- 
wood, our pace became as rapid as we could weE 
sustain. 

I had repeatedly asked Lavie what the trouble 
was, but had thus far obtained no answer, but a 
short 'drive on, drive on;' but he now rode along 
side the cart and told me in hurried and excited 
French that had we remained much longer in the 
village, the Sioux would have killed me; at the 
same time blaming himseh for having brought me 
into the danger as he was aware that I had indirectly 
aided Major Hatch — a fact which the savages evi- 
dently also knew. Nothing more was said on either 
side, I being occupied in thinking over my escape, 
and Lavie engaged in urging on the horses and 
doubhng the bluffs in a fox-like manner. 



166 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

It must have -been nearly ten o'clock when we 
left the Sioux village, and we kept up our tremen- 
dous pace until about three in the afternoon, only 
stopping once to change the position of the horses 
from cart to saddle. From the silence of Lavie, 
who was usually talkative, I argued that he feared 
the savages would follow yet, and attempt my de- 
struction ; and this thought so worked upon me as 
to render me extremely nervous and excited. My 
hope however, lay in the fact of the Indians having 
no horses, and our consequent abihty to outrun 
them. I was unaware at the time that w^e were 
following the base of the hills, which here make a 
turn like a horse-shoe, and that the savages could, 
by crossing straight over the hills, overtake us. 

The horses were showing signs of great exhaus- 
tion, when we halted by a timber bluff, by the side 
of which was a small pond, some twelve feet in 
diameter. The water in this pond was very shal- 
low, and some two feet below the surface of the 
plain. The bluff of timber was about thirty feet in 
length and fifteen feet through, of small cotton- 
wood trees, standing so thickly together that 
though when on the border of the bluff, one could 
see through it to the prairie beyond, yet he could 
not be seen himself at the distance of one hundred 
yards. 

After turning the horses out to grass, and while 
discussing a cold dinner, Lavie assured me that we 
were far enough now beyond the reach of the Sioux, 
but that in order to make assurance doubly sure, he 
proposed travehng on into the night, as soon as the 
horses were sufficiently rested. He explained his 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 167 

iaving taken the opposite direction from that 
whence we came, in order to mislead the Indians, 
but that he intended to double back that night, to 
the head waters of the Oak Eiver, and from thence 
to the place of meeting with Johnny. Under these 
assurances, my excitement was quieted so that, 
after a rest of an hour or more, Lavie started after 
the horses ; I was quite restored, save the nervous- 
ness arising from the events of the morning. 

" I lay upon the ground, smoking for some time, 
after his departure, when I began to wonder what 
was delaying him so long. Eising to my feet, I 
went beyond the end of the bluff to obtain a clear 
view of the prairie. I had just passed the last trees, 
when, to my horror and consternation, I saw beyond 
the nearest bluff, and stealthily approaching it, three 
Sioux Indians, with painted faces and guns in their 
hands. Their plan, evidently, was to reach the bluffs 
and descend upon me at the first good opportunity. 
'They saw me, however, at the same moment that I 
•discovered them, and, avoiding all effort at conceal- 
ment, ran boldly for the copse. I ran at once for 
my rifle, and plunging into the bluff, penetrated to 
the outskirts of the side facing the copse, which con- 
cealed the Sioux. Here I lay down among the 
shoots and twigs, almost beside myself with fear, 
and trembhng in every nerve. 

" The situation now stood thus: Three Indians 
hent on murder, concealed in the cottonwood bluff ; 
and one nervous and excited white man, hidden in 
another copse, with an intervening space of about 
600 yards between them. 

" I peered anxiously toward the bluff which con- 



168 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

cealed the savages. All was still; nothing could be- 
seen. My rifie would easily carry that far, could I 
see an Indian and control my nerves sufficiently to 
take an accurate aim. I endeavored to calm myself 
and to think rationally what course of action to pur- 
sue. It was clear that I must act on the defensive 
altogether, and that if I could hold out until Lavie 
came, all might go well. But a vague fear that per- 
haps he had deserted me, or had fallen into the hands 
of the Indians, already possessed me. It was plain 
there w^as no way for the savages to attack me but 
by charging over the open space, when I could get 
at least one shot, if not two. But then what? 
Still, I argued, that knowing my rifle to be a repeat- 
ing one, and themselves armed with the common 
trading guns, they would not attempt a charge. 
And then I knew the savage character sufficiently 
well to beheve they would not attack without a de- 
cided advantage. True, they might separate and 
approach singly from different quarters; but still 
they would have to come over the open space where 
I could get a shot. These thoughts passed through 
my mind instantaneously, while I intently w^atched 
the opposite copse. There was not a sign of hfe 
in it. 

"Five — ten minutes passed, without a sound. 
The suspense was awful. All my senses were pre- 
ternaturally acute. I remember feeling an ant 
crawling over my hand with a sensation that made 
my flesh creep. I fancied I could hear it crawl. 
There was a small scarlet flower springing from a 
light- green stem near the front side of mj^ rifle. It 
seemed to me that I needed no microscope to count- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 169' 

the minutest vein in its petals. I could distinguish 
the slightest motion of the leaves in the neighbor- 
ing hammock. I was lying on my face, with the 
gun extended in front, ready to use. I raised it 
every few minutes to try my nerves and ascertain 
if I could fire with accuracy, when the moment 
came. But I was more shaky than ever, and feared 
lest I should fail altogether. 

" I was engaged hke this when I saw a sudden 
flash issue from the bluff where the savages lay 
concealed. A sharp report followed, and a ball ex- 
hausted its force some distance in front, but in a 
direct line of me. It was evident they knew in 
what portion of the copse I lay hidden. But why 
tire when they knew the ball would not reach me ? 
Possibly to attract my fire in return. But they 
knew I had sixteen shots without reloading. I be- 
came almost paralyzed with a sudden fear that the 
Sioux were approaching from different directions, 
and that this was the signal to charge. I started 
up and peered through the trees in all directions, 
but discovered no one. What could it mean? 

" I am probably no greater jjhysical coward than 
the majority of men. This was not the first time, 
either, that I had been under fire. But I had always 
been in company with others when so placed. I was 
fully determined to fight the Sioux to the bitter end. 
But I confess I was almost beside myself with sheer 
fright. If they would only show themselves, or 
give me an inkling of their plan of attack ! This 
silence and mystery was infinitely more unendura- 
ble than any open charge. I resolved to return the 
fire, then I thought it useless, as I had no definite^ 



170 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

object to shoot at. I cursed Lavie for having left 
me alone, and mentally accused him of having done 
so advisedly. I pictured to myself how I would 
look before sundown, lying stretched out on the 
prairie, my body riddled wdth shot, my scalp torn 
off. To this feeling succeeded one of sullen apathy ; 
I was a dead man, but I w^ould kill before I died. I 
thii-sted for blood ; I would fight to the last gasp. 
This feehng was better for me, and I grew calmer 
and my nerves steadier. 

The afternoon w^as intensely warm, and I had 
just wiped the perspiration from my face, and 
changed my position slightly, in order to elevate 
my rifle, when from the ends and center of the 
bluff came the three Sioux, charging, with loud 
yells, toward me. My gun was pointed toward the 
end of the bluff, from whence the shot had issued, 
and without materially altering its position I fired. 
The Sioux plunged forward on his face, and I knew 
I had but two enemies to meet. But they were 
coming with fearful speed toward me. By the time 
I had reloaded, and risen to my feet, they were 
within sixty yards of me, and had their guns pointed 
to fire. Strange to say, I was calm, now that the 
exciting moment had arrived. I fully expected to 
die, but I w^ould fight. Scarcely pausing to take 
aim, I fired at the foremost savage, and then incon- 
tinently fled. As I did so, I felt a sharp blow upon 
the knee, as if it had been struck with a stick, and 
I knew I was hit. I ran, however, for the pond, 
not knowing whether there were two foes to fight 
•or only one, and plunged in, lying flat under the 
bank. If there were two Indians, the guns of both 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST, 171 

"were empty, and I at once raised my rifle and head 
above the bank to find out. I saw one Indian, 
something more than half-way through the bluff 
which impeded his progress ; but he dropped to the 
ground — our eyes met. 

My situation was now worse than before. I could 
not raise my head above the bank without attract- 
ing the fire of the Indians, who were on a level tw^o 
feet above me. If there were two remaining, one of 
them could easily and wdth safety approach from 
the rear, and shoot me. And whether there was 
one or two, they were only twenty or tw^enty-five 
yards distant. The seconds in that moment of time 
seemed ages. The sun flamed down on me with in- 
tense heat. To add to my despondency, I felt the 
warm blood trickle from my wounded knee, and a 
sharp pain running through it. The suspense was 
agonizing, but I was resigned to what I conceived 
to be my inevitable doom. A thought suggested 
that by raising my hat above the level of the bank, 
I might draw the Indian's fire, and gain an oppor- 
tunity of returning it, while their guns were empty. 
The ruse was successful. I raised the hat and a 
bullet passed through it. But only one shot was 
fired, and I dared not raise my head lest its feUow 
should kill me. So I lay still wdth the muzzle of 
my gun above the bank, awaiting the final charge 
of the Sioux. But they seemed in no hurry to risk 
a charge. 

'' Sound can be heard when the ear is placed close 
to the earth, incredible distances. Stretched out as 
I was, with every sense exerted to the utmost ten- 
ision, I suddenly fancied I heard a rumbling noise. 



172 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The sound grew more distinct, and resolved itself 
into regular beats. A moment more, and I distin- 
guished the clatter of horses' hoofs striking the 
prairie sod. I scarcely dared hope it might be Lavie,. 
when the sound suddenly ceased, and I heard my 
name called. It was Lavie's voice, and I shouted 
in return. I told him there were two Sioux in the^ 
timber bluff. He answered me in French, telhng 
me to lie still, but to be ready to jump. 

" I now became, not a participant, nor a specta- 
tor, but a listener to events. From the sound, I 
judged Lavie to be about 100 yards distant. I heard 
the sound of hoofs moving in the direction of the 
open space between the two bluffs, where the first 
Indian had fallen, but they did not pass into it. 
Presently they returned, evidently toward the rear 
of the pond, where I lay. Then they ceased alto- 
gether, and I heard Lavie shout in his patois — ' Ah,, 
Boy, you got two of them, eh?' 

" I caimot describe the sensation of rehef which 
came over me at this assurance, that but one Indian 
remained. I shouted to Lavie that if two were 
dead, there remained but one in the bluff. He told 
me, in reply, to be quiet, and a moment later a ball 
whizzed over my head into the timber. 

" Lavie was armed with a breech-loading carbine, 
which carried eight balls. He had, also, an extra 
tube, containing as many more. He continued fir-^ 
ing into the bluff, until he had discharged four- 
teen loads, firing from near the prairie level. Dur- 
ing the fusilade, I lay still on my face, though ready 
at any time to a9t. S^inally, satisfied that no living 
thing remained 'in the bluffs, Lavie reloaded, and 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



173 



Tieeping his horse between himself and the copse, 
advanced to the pond. He told me to jump sud- 
denly up and get behind the horse. This I did, 
^ihough at the cost of great pain from my knee. 




INDIAN MOTHEK AND HER CHILD. 



Then we moved off a distance of 100 yards, and, 
taking positions for a cross fire, raked the bluff again 
thoroughly, with our breech-loaders. It was unnec- 
-essary, however ; the Sioux had probably fled. 
Lavie informed me that the horses, which had 



174 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

evidently been driven quietly away by the Sioux in 
order to separate us, had gone to a marshy pond 
at some distance, and one of them had mired in 
attempting to reach the water ; that he had been 
employed all the time in extricating it from the 
swamp, and had only heard the last shot of the 
Sioux, when close enough to see the flash of the 
discharge. But he assured me he had not been 
gone for over an hour. It seemed an eternity to me. 

" No time was lost in leaving the spot. We headed 
for the source of Oak Eiver, and traveled on far 
into the night. When the morning dawned, I found 
my knee, which had been loosely bandaged, so much 
swollen and so painful, as to threaten a serious re- 
sult. In view of this, Lavie pushed directly on for 
Fort EUice, in which hospitable shelter, having left 
me, he returned to meet Johnny. I was laid up a 
month with the wound. At the expiration of that 
period, I again joined Lavie and continued in his 
company until late in the faU, hunting and trading 
with much success, but never again venturing into 
the vicinity of the Eiding Mountains. 

" I thought I had finished my wanderings in the 
wild regions of this continent ; but here I am taking 
my first watch while you gentlemen should be 
sleeping." 

The fire was replenished. The company repaired 
to the tents, while Barstow culled his floral speci- 
mens, which I volunteered to assist him in doing. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. ITS- 



CHAPTEE X. 

A Buffalo Hunt — A Friend's Picture — Discourse about Birds. 

Camp life under present circumstances was alto- 
gether a novel experience to some of us, but the 
fatigue of the day was followed by a night of quiet 
and refreshing slumber. The distant sounds of 
coyotes, or the cries of night birds in the copse in 
which we were encamped, did not disturb us in the 
least, and it was not till an hour after sunrise, that 
we were summoned to an appetizing, if rather simple 
breakfast. 

Early in the day, while Mr. Barstow was arrang- 
ing his herbarium, Mr. Warrington was* trying his 
luck with a fishing-rod, and others of the party were 
less profitably employed. Pettibone, who had been 
absent for an hour or two, returned to camp with 
the gratifying intelligence that a vast herd of buffa- 
loes were grazing at some distance to the eastward, 
affording a fine opportunity for a chase. Looking in 
the direction indicated, we beheld in the distance 
what appeared to be a stretch of woodland, but the 
distance was too great to permit us to distinguish 
any single object, and to our vision there was 
neither life nor motion in the dark extending hne 
to which Pettibone directed our attention ; a field- 
glass, however, confirmed the information he had 
given ; not a moment was lost in the preliminaries 
requisite, and we were all soon in the saddle. 

The success of the hunt must necessarily depend 



176 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

upon both skill and caution. Warrington was as 
new to the business as myself, but the other gentle- 
men of the party were veteran hunters, and we 
deemed ourselves fortunate in thus having an op- 
portunity of observing the mode of procedure by 
adepts. We did not make a direct charge, w^hich 
would have resulted in inglorious failure, for the 
wdnd was rather fresh from the northwest, or in 
other words, from our point of the compass towards 
the huge beasts, but making a long detour, we were 
able to approach the herd from the southeast. Of 
course there was no timber or aught else to cover 
our advance, so there was no alternative but to 
€liarge directly down upon them, trusting to the 
speed of our horses and to our accuracy in firing. 
We were all well mounted, and armed w^ith the best 
of rifles, but our horses were as yet untried in the 
chase. 

This herd might or might not have been the very 
one we had seen from the railroad, but in either 
oase the animals quickly perceived our approach 
and fled, the very ground trembling beneath them. 
Onward we dashed, at the utmost speed of our 
ponies, but we were yet at too great a distance to 
fire upon the game. We gained upon the frightened 
creatures, and w^ere soon within rifle range. It was 
an exciting chase, and it became very evident that 
our ponies were accustomed to such work, for they 
betrayed no indication of fear. Warrington was 
the first to fire, but his buUet would not have hit 
the broad side of a country barn had he been firing 
at one at twenty paces, and as he was a better shot 
than I, the herd might have quietly paused to graze, 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 177 

for all the harm we have should have done them, 
I suspect; but not so the others. Their fire was 
accurate, and the result most disastrous to the 
buffaloes. One, two, three, fell to the earth beneath 
the unerring fire, but not till the chase had been 
continued for a long time. Merely to wound and 
cripple the game was not for men of their experi- 
ence and skill. They had reduced the work of 
kiUing to a fine art ; their bullets went dii-ectly to 
the most vulnerable and vital part, and the victory 
was complete. 

It would have been downright cruelty to have 
longer continued the slaughter, for we had neither 
need of the beef nor facihties for its transportation. 
Contenting ourselves, therefore, with selecting the 
best portions for present use, we left the carcasses 
for the coyotes and carried our first trophies of buf- 
falo hunting to our camp, where the meat proved a 
timely acquisition to our cuisine. 

While others passed the rest of the day in fish- 
ing, Barstow, Warrington and I made a foray upon 
the feathered tribe, w^henever desirable specimens 
presented themselves, for our Enghsh friends were 
•especially anxious to obtain a good collection of 
American birds and flowers. 

Warrington, as I should have said earher, was a 
cultured gentleman, full of good nature, as his jolly, 
rubicund face, his rotund and bulky form, and the 
merry twinkle of his eye would indicate. He liked 
a good dinner, enjoyed agreeable society, and was 
never more dehghted than when smoking his cigar 
and arranging his specimens. His jolhty and good 
humor was perpetual sunlight. There are persons 



178 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

in this great world of ours, who cannot laugh — 
whose convulsive efforts to do so are abortive, and 
in wliich there is no more music than in a cracked 
clarionet — whose sheet-iron faces seldom relax their 
rigidity, and whose very glance would freeze a smile 
in the most genial heart before it could find expres- 
sion on the hps; but the sight of Warrington's 
twinkhng eyes and jolly face, and the sound of his 
musical laughter — running through a whole gamut 
of explosives of merriment, is the very best remedy 
for the "blues." It was always fair w^eather, rose 
leaves and sunshine with him, and his felicitous 
disposition made him a universal favorite with the 
company, who never wearied of his quaint dis- 
courses upon the birds and flowers he handled so 
tenderly, and w^hich he never deprived of life without 
first asking the pardon of his victims for doing so. 
At evening he examined his prizes with all the sat- 
isfaction with which the miser counts his gold, and 
taking up one specimen after another, he gave us, 
in his peculiar and inimitable manner, much inter- 
esting information concerning it. 

" However much we may be indebted to scientists 
for our information as to the varied, beautiful, and 
wonderful works of God, we cannot but regret that 
analytical research is ever a godless Vandal, eager 
to separate vital wheels, and unable to re-animate 
the beautiful mechanisms it has destroyed." So 
would he discourse. 

" To the ornithologist, gun in hand, the most ex- 
quisite songster of the orchard, or glen, is only val- 
uable as a ' specimen;' and while we avail ourselves 
of his classifications and descriptions, we must still 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 179 

be permitted to enter protest against any and every- 
one of his wanton destructions of innocuous bird- 
life. The dehcate warbler, equally with the ' sports- 
man,' is sentient; it has every attribute of organic 
soul, and this, in the erudite classification of the 
scientist, is the only part not noted— for analysis 
ousted,— zY is the wJiole bird, the residuum of bone, 
flesh and feathers, having no particular value' 
except as memorial trace of a flown ideal grace, 
exceptional attribute, and divinely-planned beauty 
that called for pity, and whose wreckage, because it 
was fair, is a mournful satire on the admiration of 
man. 

" That the soul of the bird is a divine emanation, 
separated and faUen from the paradisiacal life-tree 
of which it is a floating leaf, is the most beautiful 
as well as the most plausible theory of its existence. 
Its plumage and form are incarnate grace, its com- 
monest motion the ideal one of flight, its only lan- 
guage music! In its instinctive obedience to law, 
of which it has no self-conscious knowledge, its in- 
spirations of soaring and song, its prophetic antici- 
pations of the seasons, and migrations as certain as 
the tides, are shadows of divine consciousness ; and 
that modern science, while declaring that the bii^d 
or beast of itself has no soul, should utterly ignore 
the palpable deity incarnated in the animal spheres 
—a principle the astute Egyptians and other an- 
cient scientists fully recognized— is proof, not so 
much of the acumen of the age as of its atheism. 

" Overlooking this principle, ornithology has over- 
looked some vital hnes of classification, but none 
the less, its arrangements are ingenious and exhaus- 



180 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



tive. It does not, as our first conception of its 
work would lead us to expect, classify to any extent 
by attributes, babits and diet, not even witb any 
particular regard to size, but arranges tbe species on 
a basis of mecbanical construction, by peculiar 
cbaracteristics of tbe feet, bill, featbers, etc. Tbese 
differences, in justice to science, we sbould say, are 
sucb as bave been found definitive, being a sort of 
Creator's label, and tbe species are probably more 
generically classified in tbis way tban tbey could be 
in any otber. 




,.,:„!.,i„:,5ii„»^.milj 



" Tbat birddom, in its fallen estate, is a tbeocracy, 
is a tbeory that a predominance of predatory habit 
and carnivorous diet most emphatically controverts. 
To all intents and purposes it is a repubhc, with 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 181 

balances of power nicely adjusted. The wording of 
science makes it a ^kingdom,' and poetry has long 
assigned to a well-known bird the crown and oft- 
contested scanty perquisites of a savage royalty. 

" Though there are some larger, and many hand- 
somer birds, there are none for whom we should ever 
expect to see the Eagle by either Science or Poetry 
decrowned. Emblematical of Liberty and Empire, 
the founders of the great American Eepubhc, who 
adopted this kingly soarer from the heraldry of other 
realms, had they wdshed for an entirely original 
emblem, would have looked in vain, on earth or in 
the heavens, for another so suggestive. Of this bird^ 
there are in the world about seventy known species. 
They are of the order of Hcvptores — specific family, 
AquihnaB. The especial eagle of Columbia, whose 
caricature is flung to a milhon breezes on the Ameri- 
can Eepubhc's striped bunting, is the Bald Eagle, 
one of the most tameless and plucky of all the 
many varieties, — scientific title, Haliaetus Leuco- 
cephalus. 

" These princes of the bird kingdom are rarely 
seen in any inhabited locahty, their safety depend- 
ing on their seclusion. An occasional 'specimen' 
is secured, but the bird itseK is rare, the family not 
prolific ; and as the flag of whose heraldry it is a 
component part, does not concede any 'rights' 
of either citizenship or hospitable courtesy to it,, 
this old crown-wearer and standard-bearer of pom- 
pous earthly empire is in a fair way to become, to 
the golden ages of the future, what the extinct 
mastodon and ichthyosaurus are to the erudite fos- 
sil hunters and scientists of the present. 



182 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

" As the eagle, though not without its virtues, is 
a bird of prey, let those mourn who will, — it is, in 
common with all slayers and animal food eaters, a 
* golden age ' antagonist, and as such, while still 
deprecating its slaughter, we must sadly own it 
richly deserving of the fate its rarity already fore- 
shadows. 

''The eagle ranks in ornithology as first cousin to 
some disreputable denizens of bird-dom — to the 
owl, kite, chicken-hawk, carrion crow, turkey-buz- 
zard, etc. All these, though of different famihes, 
being of the order Bajjtores. As his aquihne majesty 
can not, by habits any way superior, give the lie to 
ornithologists' unflattering betrayal of his plebian 
origin, we readily accept the fact of his humble 
relationships. 

" The smaller birds of this order are always plenty, 
easily finding food and places of concealment, but 
before the advancing foot and gun of predatory 
man, the larger sorts are gradually disappearing. 
A genuine specimen of the great grey owl is almost 
as rare as the eagle, though one with ample muscle 
to carry off a lamb or turkey, is occasionally shot 
in the vicinity of some unfrequented glen, or large 
stretch of woodland. There are something hke 150 
species of owls — family Strigidce. The larger varie- 
ties of these prey upon other birds and small ani- 
mals, but the most are held to be fully as insectivor- 
ous as the robin. 

" The birds of bad repute — eagles, owls, hawks, 
kites, crows, cormorants, vultures,. etc., are not the 
only sinners of the winged race. Nearly all birds 
are either whoUy or partially, carnivorous. The 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 183 

most, while able to subsist and maintain perfect 
health on a vegetable diet, prefer the animal food, 
and while any subject creature exists that is edible 
and savory, will turn contemptuous tail upon any 
and all of God and Nature's insensitive and abund- 
antly-provided vegetarian sweets. Even the pretty 
and seemingly beneficent humming-bird is no ex- 
ception; for with a choice at his refusal of " a din- 
ner of herbs wdth love " in the bells of a hundred 
flowers, he turns from all, to take as the daintiest 
of tit-bits, the sun-roasted, noon-drowsy fly or bee, 
that went down, as to a first table, to the deep-hid 
ambrosias of Flora before him. 

" That the desire for animal food is a perversion of 
original nature, a result of some species of 'fall,' 
ought not to be doubted by any who accept as di- 
vine, the Mosaic revelation. It is doubted, however, 
by the most astute scientists ; even the Darwinians, 
while admitting that all traits and appetites, equally 
with the organs, are evolutions, being fixed as the 
types, their theories fail to consider all evolutions 
a progression. 

" The Humming Birds— ranked by ornithologists 
as among the Insessores— family, Troc/wZ/^Z^— not- 
withstanding their hypocrisies of pretended beauty, 
love-and-honey diet, are among the most exquisite 
and admirable of the feathered tribe. They are ex- 
clusively American, and plenty at almost any range 
of latitude on this continent. There are, on an 
average, over two known species for every latitudi- 
nal degree from pole to pole, 400 distinct varieties, 
according to accredited authorities, not being con- 
sidered too large an estimate ! They are co-existent 



184 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

witli the insect — attracting, honey-producing floral 
kingdom, and are found at any latitude not too 
inclement for flowers. They are plenty in Kansas^ 
and not hard to catch, but are easily injured by 
handling. If fed according to their acquired car- 
nivorous habits, they can be kept in cages and 
domesticated ; but almost all, who covetously entrap 
specimens of these exquisitely-vital animate sun- 
beams, are unaware that, fallen like the rest of 
doomed mortahty, they are insectivorous. 

" The Humming Bird's nest is so small and so 
securely hidden, that it is almost never found. Once 
or twice in a lifetime one may be stumbled upon It 
is the prettiest little curiosity out ; most attractive 
when it is fullest — all the family from papa to the 
baby ' at home.' 

" The bird, hke most of the winged tribes, is. 
migratory, a follow^er of the floral wave as it fluctu- 
ates back and forth from its permanent base in the 
tropics, over the temperate, and for a short period 
even into the polar zones. The sweet breath of it& 
favorite, insect traj), is probably the httle migrant's 
only trail; but, shrewd as it is hhputian, to what- 
ever distance, as the seasons vary, it may wander^ 
it never loses track of the way back, never misses- 
the trains, and is sure to he on its native sw^ard at 
the first grand floral opening. 

" The loves of ' Jenny Wren ' and ' Cock Eobin,' 
have long been inscribed on ' Mother Goose's *" 
pages, a favorite legend of the nursery. Although 
far too good to be true, these birds being inveterate 
enemies, in some essential respects, they are suffi- 
ciently alike to comfortably wed. They are both 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 185- 

great gourmands, and carnivorous to a large extent. 
" The Robin — Tardus Migratorius — is of a very- 
prolific and hardy species. In our latitude — super- 
abundantly productive of grasshoppers, bugs, worms, 
etc. — it is much admired as being on hand with the 
earhest bug. The female is somewhat larger than 
the male, but the male has the reddest breast, pro- 
bably because his heart is the warmest. She has all 
the vocal organs, and is, equally with her mate, able 
to sing; but, in common with the males of other 
species, he does the aesthetics, while she maintains 
an appearance of decorus incapacity, oversees the 
family, and spends her breath in twaddle. The 
habits of the robin are well known. It is as easily 
tamed and domesticated as a chicken, but eats with 
a voracity that would breed a famine in any ordi- 
nary poultry yard. A fledghng of this species de- 
vours, on an average, its own weight in worms, 
bugs, etc., every twenty-four hours, and will die, 
after a day's deprivation, of famine. This gross- 
feeding and very foul-breathed bird is invaluable as 
an insect and worm destroyer, and being so recog- 
nized, it is, in common with a goodly number of 
other species, protected by law. 

" Of the Wrens, there are numerous varieties. 
Though small birds, some of them have very pom- 
pous names, for instance, one species is called Cam- 
'pylorhyjichus Bnmneicajnllus. Another, Thriotho- 
rus Ludovicianus ; and still another, Thriothorus 
Berlandieri. The httle brown waifs, known as 
Snow-Birds— that come in flocks in the dreariest of 
seasons, brought in on the storm-wing, to ahght 
with a cheery twitter wherever a yet unrifled seed- 



186 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

stalk flutters above the snow, — are a species of 
Wren — Troglodytes Hyemalis. One of the common- 
est and best-known varieties is the shrewish httle 
House- Wren — Troglodytes Aedon — whose scolding 
at all hours is easily explained, and very excusable, 
in view of the fact that the house-cat has for ever 
an evil eye on its nest, and the mousing, sleek ter- 
rier only awaits the fledgling's first out-tumbling 
and crippled efforts at flight to give chase, and snap 
the lamp of hfe out in every one of their httle rag- 
ged breasts. 

" One of the handsomest and sauciest, most ad- 
mired, and equally with the robin, a much-endur- 
ing and early harbinger and sweet prophet of the 
Spring, is the wary and prolific Blue Bird — Sialia 
Sialis. This warbler is not seemingly so common 
as either the wren or the robin, and yet it is a poor 
rod of brown moss, greensward and briar-tangle that 
hasn't a blue bird. In the shadow it is easily mis- 
taken for an ordinary songster, but with the sun- 
shine squarely covering it, its origin is revealed. 

" It is well known, being related in the first book, 
legendary Veda of bird-land, that great Juno once, 
being in haste, and without a ribbon or girdle at 
hand to confine her somewhat cumbersome drapery, 
tore a scarf out of the sky. This Vandalism, giv- 
ing outsiders a somewhat unflattering view into 
Olympus — and, moreover, leaving an unseemly frac- 
ture — made old Jupiter angry, and he thundered, 
after the Olympian fashion ; w^hereupon Juno con- 
temptuously tore up her scarf and threw the bits at 
him. Amused at the saucy pettishness of one he 
greatly admired, the god smiled, and then the sun 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 187 

shone out, and the bits of sky went fluttering and 
careening down to earth, and all turned into blue 
birds. 

"There are various species of what have been 
termed by naturalists Siaha; our blue-bird, there- 
fore, is a somewhat variable quantity, the type 
not being so distinctly outhned as is that of the 
robin and others, whose marital associations are 
hmited to only one species. The female is not near 
so ' blue' as the male ; probably aware of the fact that 
feminine blues are attractive only of the spear, not 
usually admired, and only exceptionaUy in demand. 
She is exemplarily domestic, would sooner swallow 
a caterpillar every five seconds than sing a note, 
and never presumes to lead the way, or take an 
initiative, except when on the trail of a katydid or 
a beetle; then, if she is able, she gets ahead, and 
gulps down her victim on the pubhc arena, trium- 
phant in gluttony, regardless ahke of loves' courte- 
sies and of decorum. 

" Notwithstanding the disgraceful and distinctive 
fact that outside of an incapable and monotonous 
twitter, male birds do all the singing, if ever in the 
dewy morning, awakened, we are, by the shrillest 
of concerted pipings, made aware that the exquisite 
song-bird anthem of the day spring, is all soprano. 
We hear in the young morn's breaking, not only 
carols, but aU sorts of single notes and shrill twit- 
ters, and if the female bird ever sings at all, it is at 
the bidding of joy in the intoxicating delight of this 
social hour; but she necessarily twitters to the 
mascuhne pitch, being unable to find, inside the 
finite hmits of appreciable sound, any higher, and 
therefore, strictly feminine octaves. 



188 LIPB IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

''There are some low bird-notes. Chanticleer's 
crow, as compared with the song-bird's warble, is a 
soft contralto ; so is the crow's cry ; and to the early 
bird-matinee, in any locahty, by a carnivorous hu- 
manity inhabited, the former of these is never 
wanting. The owl, also, pipes a soft low note, not 
of itself unpleasing, and the pheasant, as often 
heard in wooded locahties, is a good drummer, but 
these performers keep strictly to solos, and for any 
ordinary feathered concerts, fail to come to time. 
It is only at night-fall, when the last shrill whip- 
poor-will is singing, and the first owl of the season 
pipes a solemn 'to-who' of attempted trombone 
base, that we get any appreciable range of pitch, 
and a genuine feathered duetto. The owl and the 
whip-poor-will, however, are seldom heard together, 
the hoot of the former in the autumn woods being 
the wary whip-poor-will's signal of departure. 

"The whip-poor-will — Anstrostomus Vociferus — 
is seldom a matinee singer, but does sometimes 
mingle his notes with other ' stars ' of the morning, 
in his Maker's praise. His usual habit is to begin 
his melancholy cry, a httle after nightfall, prefer- 
ring, hke the nightingale, to pipe 

' When all the woods are Btill.' 

"He is quite pretty as seen by starhght, or the 
rays of the crescent moon, and abroad at eventide, is 
neither chary of his notes, nor at all shy. With 
something of a soulful originahty in his composi- 
tion, he has apparently a penchant for investigation, 
and can be attracted by odd movements, to view 
which he will ahght almost at the feet of an in- 
truder, his shrill ' whip-poor-wiUie,' starthngin such 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 189 

close proximity, a manifest interrogation. As he is 
an eternal penitent, imploring chastisement, we will 
ignore his errors. He is the loudest of our night 
warblers, often confounded with the predatory night- 
hawk, to which both in habit and appearance, he is 
similar; he is a httle larger than the robin, his plu- 
mage a rufous brown, marked on the wings and tail 
with a dusky white. The female is a httle smaller 
than the male, and has no white markings. 

" The lark is the whip-poor-will's and nightin- 
gale's antipode, and as representative warbler of the 
morning, is often quoted by the poets, and well 
known to fame. There are a number of varieties of 
this notable songster, some of which are of habits 
quite common-place, and no more given to soaring 
and song, than any other birds. The variety com- 
monest in Kansas during the summer months, is 
the Meadow Lark — Sturiiella Magna. This species 
is quite unaspiring, has few enemies, and is prohfic 
and abundant. Its nest, concealed in the early 
summer's timothy and clover, is seldom disturbed, 
but is sometimes come upon by an unwary foot on 
the future hay-mow trespassing. At such times, 
the bird flies up with a frightened flutter, leaving 
from two to four warm eggs, or helpless young ones, 
without covers, on a very rough and shiftless hay 
mattress. 

" Though a pleasant little summer companion, 
our meadow lark, in its plumage of dull brown, is 
not particularly interesting, neither is the Tit Lark 
— Anthus Ludovicianus — nor the Red-Breasted Lark, 
Tripialis Militaris — nor the Finch Lark — Chondestes 
Grammaca — nor some others, all wearing the com- 



190 LIFE IN THE WaLDS OF AMEBICl., 

mon cognomen, though of different famihes. The 
only lark proper — the lark of fame — the especial 
lark, whose habits have won for the name its repu- 
tation, is a Sky Lark, a European bird, not neces- 
sary to be described. This country has varieties, 
but the American Sky Larks are the common — 
Eremophila Cornuta — a very shy bird, seldom seen 
in inhabited localities, except in the winter, and a 
httle known and rare species, christened by its 
discoverer as the Missouri Sky Lark — Neocorys 
Spraguei — a bird very similar to, if not the same as 
the European Sky Lark. 

" The Sparrow family — Fringillidce — can be found 
in every section of North America. It is of this 
bird that our Saviour in his sermons has spoken, 
and in some sections, and during our inclement sea- 
sons, it certainly needs that some pitying Deity 
should be conscious of its woes and have power to 
solace them. One of our winter birds, confounded 
often with the Troglodytes Hyemalis, is a sparrow — 
Junco Hyeinalis. This is the Snow Bird proper, not 
to the common eye distinguishable from the Wren, 
though the species are quite distinct. 

" The Snow Bunting of the Polar Sea — Plectro- 
phanes Navilis — is a sparrow very much as to the 
modes of feeding and other habits akin to a httle 
Chipping Sparrow — Spizella Socialis — of our mid- 
summer. A most interesting species of this family, 
is the Song Sparrow — Melosjyiza Melodia. This is 
only a summer bird with us, but a httle further 
south, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and other of the 
middle range of States, it is a constant resident. 
In this latitude, it appears just after the blue 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 191 

bird, black bird and meadow lark. As a vocalist, 
it rivals the robin, and can be heard from early 
dawn to nightfall, singing always the same strain, 
never by disturbing ambition or disgust at his own 
monotony goaded into the faintest attempt at un- 
orthodox variations or originations. 

" It is one of the most indefatigable of the insecti- 
vora, and never sings sweeter than after a full meal 
of wood-ticks, caterpillars and field-spiders. The 
Grass Finch — Spizella Pusilla — is another less in- 
teresting variety, quite common with us. The 
White Crowned — Zonotrichia Lencophrys — the 
Golden Crowned — Zonotrichia Gamhelii — and the 
White Throated — Zonotrichia Alhicollis — are all 
beautiful varieties, seen often in this latitude, both 
in spring and autumn, but only in flocks as passing 
migrants. This httle bird, in all his varieties, 
equaUy with the Robin, is fond of small fruits, is 
easily tamed, especially in the winter, and children 
both in city and country, often amuse themselves 
and do a sweet deed of charity, by throwing it 
crumbs. 

"The Prairie Hen is a species of Grouse, a very 
prudent family, who pay as they go, and never run 
long bills. They are excellent eating, as we now 
have an opportunity to demonstrate. " Dinner being 
announced, the bird question and the birds were 
laid upon the table. 



192 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE XI. 

A New Encampment — OfT for Colorado — Impressions of Denver — Topo- 
graphy and Resources of the State — Historj' — Wonderful Scenery 
— The Garden of the Gods — Mountain Peaks and Ranges— Mount of 
the Holy Cross — Canyons, Cascades and Parks — A Perilous posi- 
tion. 

We now struck our tents, packed our effects and 
resumed our journey to the West. Passing old 
Fort Atkinson, on the Arkansas, we at length 
reached the Cimarron River, where we encamped. 

With all the game we desired, with delightful 
weather, and perfect health, we fuUy reahzed how 
httle and how few of the artificial comforts of life 
are essential to health, to contentment, and to hap- 
piness, and ceased to wonder why the red man so 
pertinaceously clings to his natural mode of life, re- 
fusing to exchange the free gifts of Nature for the 
restraints of civilization. We kept our records, 
made our sketches, collected and arranged otir speci- 
mens, and pursued our pleasures. At night our 
camp-fire burned brightly before our lodges. The 
cries of the night-birds, and the howhngs of wild 
animals, was our lullaby, and, though at first we 
fancied that their voices did not chord perfectly, and 
their strangeness rendered us vigilant — perhaps a 
httle nervous, especiaUy at midnight to hear the 
crackhng of the dry underbrush in close proximity 
to our beds, to know that it was caused by some 
wild animal in quest of food, and to feel that the 
■creature might, perchance, extend his explorations 
beneath the canvas that covered us, — we soon be- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 193 

came accustomed to these sounds, and would have 
missed the somewhat discordant music, regarding 
its cessation a real deprivation ; but in this respect 
we were never unfortunate. 

Some days we met with httle, roving bands of 
Enghsh- speaking Indians, who had picked up 
enough words of the language for practical needs, 
in the white settlements, whither they went to 
sell their peltries or exchange them for guns and 
other articles, and to drink the " fire-w^ater " of the 
wliite men, with all the complacency and appetite 
of veterans in the business. Whenever we met 
them, we never failed to experience proofs of their 
good will and hospitahty. 

But the days were ghding by, and however Arca- 
dian our existence, it became necessary for us to 
move on and move quickly, if we w^ould extend our 
explorations of the West, which Barstow, Warring- 
ton and I proposed to do. As the other members 
of the party preferred to still longer follow the 
chase on the plains of Kansas and the border of 
Colorado, we took our leave of them with the un- 
derstanding that we would meet at Leavenworth at 
the expiration of the time to which we had hmited 
ourselves on leaving Topeka. 

A few days of rapid travel northward, and we 
crossed the Arkansas, and arrived at a station on 
the Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, which passes 
through the central part of Hamilton County, and 
westward to Pueblo, Colorado, whither we pro- 
ceeded without further delay, having sent our ponies 
and trappings to Leavenworth. 

Railway travel offers in exchange for the rural 

13 



194 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

and nomadic enjoyments experienced, practical and 
stern realities of life. 

From Pueblo we went direct, via the Kio Grande 
Railway, to Denver, the capital of the State. 

Denver is a fresh-looking, rapidly-growdng city, 
well spread out over a portion of a very large and 
sandy plain, sloping down to the South Platte 
Eiver, and containing, perhaps, 25,000 inhabitants. 
It has an elevation of 5,244 feet above the sea level, 
and is fourteen miles distant from the "foot hills." 
The business portion of the city is built of brick, and 
many of the business edifices present an imposing ap- 
pearance. It has a great number of churches, several 
street railroads, four excellent daily journals and a 
United States mint. The value of goods annually 
manufactured here, reaches several millions of dol- 
lars ; the flour trade alone somewhat exceeds one mil- 
hon. The streets are wide, and for the greater number, 
lined with a young growth of cottonwood and box- 
elder trees. The residences generally have lawns 
or yards in front, adorned wdth flowers and shrub- 
bery. All these grounds depend upon irrigation^ 
as in fact does aU vegetation of this region of coun- 
try. All departments of industry appear to be 
fully represented here, and the professions seem to 
be over-crowded, but as Webster said, "There is 
always room enough in the upper stories." Denver 
is the leading railway center in this " Far West;" 
no less than five railroads concentrate here. As late 
as 1869 there was not a mile of railw-ay in the 
Territory, but to-day there are 1,237 miles, in the 
aggregate, of the various lines — the Atchison, To- 
peka & Santa Fe, Denver & Rio Grande, Denver 



AND WONDERS OP THE WEST. 195 

Pacific,— from Denver to Cheyenne, 101 miles, con- 
necting with the Union Pacific ; Denver & Boulder 
VaUey; Denver, South Park & Pacific; Kansas 
Pacific, Union Pacific,— having however, only nine 
miles of track in Colorado, but by connections, 
forming a through hne; Colorado Central, the first 
organized in the State, a branch of the Union 
Pacific, passing thi'ough the gold and silver regions. 
In some places the railroads have a grade of 315 
feet to the mile. The Denver & South Park rail- 
road passes on the top of Kenosha Pass, 10,139 feet 
high, affording a dehghtful view of the South Park, 
3,000 feet below. A route is now being surveyed 
in Southern Colorado that will cross the mountains 
over 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 
citizens of Denver are eminently enterprising, and 
fuUy impressed with the idea, in which the tourist 
can not fail to concur, of a very promising future 
for the city. 

Of course there are no old residents here, for the 
city dates its first cabin in 1857 or 1858. There are 
plenty of hotels and boarding houses, both reasona- 
ble and dear as to rates. Houses and vacant rooms 
for rent are everywhere seen, and "lots" of land are 
for sale in unhmited numbers. It would be wisdom 
m ''the City Fathers" to convert some of the va- 
cant ground into parks. AU persons, and invahds 
especiaUy, need a pleasant place of resort out of 
doors. Many who come hither soon get discour- 
aged; not feeling it safe to venture to the mount- 
ams, they lounge about the city, hke prisoners, and 
discuss their ills with each other, and hence make 
comparatively slow progress towards recovery. They 



196 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

come here, generally, ignorant of what is needful, 
and how to attain the advantages of location and 
climate — often ignorant of their real condition and 
its requirements. For lack of practical instruction 
concerning these matters, many, perhaps the greater 
number, who go abroad in quest of suitable climatic 
influences, agreeably to the home physician's oft re- 
peated injunction, utterly fail to attain the advant- 
ages and benefits sought. 

The adjacent country, of which views may be 
obtained from the city, presents a scene of inde- 
scribable grandeur and beauty — pictures of loveh- 
ness, into which enter lofty mountains, majestic 
rivers and dehghtful valleys. Mt. Torrey, Gray's 
Peak, Mt. Eosa, Mt. Evans, of the eastern range, 
and Pike's Peak, Long's Peak and Mt. Lincoln, 
rise in sublimity and grandeur to the height of 
14,000 feet above sea level. 

The Snow range of the Rocky Mountains stretches 
along on the western side. The mountains appear 
in comparatively close proximity, but in realitj/^ they 
are from forty to fifty miles distant. They rise to an 
altitude of from ten to fourteen thousand feet above 
the level of the sea. Snow is plainly visible on 
theii" summits and sides, with the cloud as its only 
companion. 

Denver is the gateway to all the marvelous scenes 
of this new and prosperous State. 

Colorado Territory was constituted in 1861, being 
formed from portions of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah 
and New Mexico; it was admitted to the family 
of States in 1876. The first white settlement was 



AND WONDEES OP THE WEST. 197 

made in G-ilpin County, in 1858, and so rapid has 
been its growth, so great its enterprise and pros- 
perity, that in 1877 it had nearly 200,000 inhabitants, 
nearly two million acres of improved lands, and 
annual productions ^o the value of twenty-three 
miUions of doUars. In 1870 there were only 95,594 
acres of cultivated land in the Territory. 

The region of Colorado was known to the people 
of Europe prior to the settlement of New England 
or Virginia, having been first visited by white men 
in 1540, by an expedition from Mexico. For more 
than three centuries, Colorado west of the Eocky 
Mountains was nominally a part of the Spanish and 
Mexican possessions. By the treaty of 1848 the 
United States secured title to this region. The 
country north of the Arkansas Eiver and east of 
the Eocky Mountains formed a part of the French 
possessions, and was included in the Louisiana pur- 
chase made in 1803. Three years subsequent to this 
transfer, Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, with an exploring 
party, passed through tli.e mountains, from north to 
south, and discovered the lofty, snow-capped peak 
which bears his name. In 1820 an expedition com- 
manded by Colonel H. S. Long visited this Terri- 
tory ; in 1842-4 the region was explored by Colonel 
J. C. Fremont. In 1852 gold-hunters discovered 
the precious metal in Clear Creek, and miners' tents 
became very numerous in that region. In 1858 gold 
was discovered on Dry Creek, a few miles south of 
Denver, and the following year it was found in Gil- 
pin County. Early in 1859 the county of Arrapa- 
hoe was organized; and from this period onward 
the growth and prosperity of Colorado has been 
remarkably rapid. 



198 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

In the early days of the Territory, a class of ruf- 
fians, who always infest mining regions, came hither, 
but the salutary influence of a vigilance committee 
quickly improved their morals, and law and order 
was completely and permanently established. 

The boundaries of the State are the 37th and 41st 
parallels of north latitude, and the 102d and 109th 
west longitude — forming a parallelogram. On the 
north are the grazing lands of Nebraska, and the 
silver hills of Wyoming; on the east, the broad 
prairies of Kansas and Northwest Nebraska ; upon 
the south are New^ Mexico and the Indian Territory ; 
and on the w^est is Utah. 

The State is 380 miles long, by 280 miles in width, 
having an area of 106,500 square miles, — 66,880,000 
acres — considerably larger than the whole of New 
England, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland com- 
bined, which may be fairly regarded as rather a size- 
able State, and as its entire population is less than 
half of that of Chicago or St. Louis, it would seem 
that there is stiU room for a few more. 

The Eocky Mountains extend from north to south 
through the centre of the State ; the three parallel 
ranges, with peaks mantled with snow, rising almost 
three miles above the sea level, enclosing the great 
parks — the most valuable agricultural division. The 
State is naturally divided into the mountain regions, 
the foot hiUs and the plains. 

The western ranges of mountains are covered with 
gi'eat forests of timber, chiefly pine, larch, spruce, 
and fir. In the western part of the State is also 
found hemlock, cedar, cottonwood and other varie- 
ties. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 199 

From latitude 38 degrees 30 minutes to 40 degrees 
30 minutes the chain of the Eocky mountains is, 
perhaps, 120 miles broad, and consists of three par- 
allel ranges running northwest. The eastern range 
known as the Front or Colorado Eange, rises ab- 
ruptly from the plains east of Denver. West of 
this range, and separated from it by the great Parks, 
is the Park range. It is stated by several authori- 
ties, that these mountains contain more than twenty 
peaks that are over 13,000 feet high. The Blue Eio 
group include Mt. PoweU, which attains an eleva- 
tion of 13,300 feet. The third, and by far the great- 
est of this magnificent mountain chain, is about 
twenty miles west of the Park range, and runs par- 
allel with it ; the Arkansas VaUey, lying between. 
It forms the great continental hne of division be- 
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific portions of the 
State. 

The general height of these stupendous moun- 
tains is over 13,000 feet. Grand Mountain, La 
Platta, Harvard, Yale, Mt. Elbert, and the Mount 
of the Holy Cross, attain a much greater elevation. 
The Elk Mountains form the western spur of this 
range, and contain Mt. Sporis, the Capitol, the 
White House, Maroon Mountain, and Castle Peak, 
all of which are over 14,000 feet high— 2,000 feet 
above the snow line, and, therefore, at aU seasons of 
the year covered with snow. 

There are many other mountains, including the 
Eaton, Sierra, San Juan, Sierra La Platta, Uncom- 
pahgre. Sierra San Miguel, Sierra Escalante and 
others, which attain a very great altitude. 

The average elevation of the foot hiUs, in the 




THK JiOVhDFAi CANON. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 201 

southwest, is about 8,000 feet; the summit of the 
range 11,500 feet ; the timber hue 12,000 feet. There 
are, in Colorado, eighteen peaks that rise to 14,000 
feet above the sea level. 

The eastern plains occupy rather more than a 
third of the entire area of the State. The foot hills 
at the base of the mountains are interesting to the 
tourist. 

The South Platte, between Montgomery and Den- 
ver, a distance of 125 miles, has a faU of over six 
thousand feet, while some of the canons of the 
Arkansas rise to the height of from 1,500 to 2,000 
feet above the bed of the river, which is hemmed in 
by precipitous rocks, forming a scene wild, pictur- 
esque and grand beyond description. It is impossi- 
ble to fully conceive this stupendous height without 
actual observation. The lofty spire of a church 
rarely exceeds 200 feet; let the reader fancy one 
such spire above another, till he has reached a. 
height of ten, and he will begin to comprehend the 
meaning of the figures so easily written, which, 
without the aid of comparison, would be inadequate 
to convey a just idea of this vast height. Having, 
in imagination, carried up the ten spires, let him 
rest for a moment upon the summit of the last, and 
peer down into the swiftly rushing waters below, 
and his idea of the Arkansas at some points, will 
enable him to comprehend the description. Wild, 
awful, sublime, picturesque in their fullest and 
broadest significance, are words requisite to con- 
vey even a tolerable idea of the scene to a person 
who has never beheld it. For a just conception of 
the terms sublimity, grandeur, vastness and pic- 



202 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

turesque scenery, the reader must behold the giant 
mountains of Colorado towering aloft till they 
pierce the skies, the canons nearly half a mile in 
depth, and the many natural features of this region 
of wonders. 

A remarkable feature of Colorado scenery is the 
wonderful system of natural parks. These are 
vast, irregular plateaus, hemmed in on all sides by 
gigantic mountain ranges. The principal divisions 
which make up this great system, extend over a belt 
of country from forty to sixty miles in width, ex- 
tending from the northern boundary southward to 
Fremont County, inclosing an area of at least seven- 
ty five milhon acres of the best and most fertile lands. 
The greater part of the country is w^atered by num- 
erous streams, and is overgrown to a considerable 
extent by forests of valuable timber. 

The North Park has an elevation of from 8,000 to 
9,000 feet above the level of the sea, and embraces 
an area of not less than 25,000 square miles. Num- 
erous tributaries of the north fork of the Platte 
course through this extensive region. On the 
south of this park, and separated from it by spurs of 
the great mountain range, is Middle Park; this em- 
braces a tract sixty-five miles in length and forty- 
five miles in width, nineteen million acres of the 
best agricultural land in the State. A number of 
small streams that are tributary to Grand Kiver 
flow through this park. On the east of the main 
range is South Park, bounded on all sides but one 
by lofty mountains ; on the east of it are the foot 
hills. Its elevation is about the same as that of the 
North Park. It extends over an area of nearly a 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



203 



-million and a quarter acres, abounds in streams 
tributary to the South Platte, and contains salt 
springs of great value. 







SAN LUIS PARK. 



The great Southern Park — the San Luis — is sepa- 
Tated from South Park by the main range of moun- 
tains, and is bounded on the west by the Sierra San 
Juan. It is equal in extent to aU the other parks 
together, and in fertility of soil, wealth of mineral 
deposits, delightful scenery and salubrity of climate, 
is not unlike them. Through this park flow the Eio 
Grande del Norte and its numerous tributaries. The 
'elevation of San Luis Park is 7,000 feet. 



204 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Monument Park, eight miles north of Colorado 
Springs, is notable for its picturesque scenery and 
singular beauty. Here may be seen fantastic groups. 
of sand-stone, in shape of sugar loaves, occasionally 
surmounted by a large flat stone, seemingly just 
ready to fall ; and there are massive stone columns, 
slender spires and obelisks of all varieties that, when 
viewed from a distance, resemble the columns and 
monumental shafts of a vast cemetery ; and the illu- 
sion is rendered the more effective by the color of 
the stone, which varies from a grayish hue to snowy 
W'hiteness. To the fancy, it is the burial place of a 
host of giants, whose memorials defy the destructive 
power of time and the vandalism of man. 

The Parks are supposed by some to have been 
deep lakes among the mountains, but the mountain 
barriers having been cleft with canons, they are 
now dry. 

In the South Park, Fremont was hemmed in with 
snow and obliged to subsist upon his mules. In ad- 
dition to the great parks already named, there are 
several smaller ones, among which are the Egeira 
and Estes, in the middle of the State. 

In aU i:>arts of the country, the attractions for the 
sportsman are all that can be desired. He will find 
bears, cougars, wolves, and wild-cats in the moun- 
tainous regions ; and on the plains, buffaloes, deer, 
antelopes, hares, rabbits, and many fur-bearing ani- 
mals ; wild turkey, mountain grouse, sage hen, prai- 
rie chicken, goose, duck, and swan are also numer- 
ous. 

The view from Pike's Peak, the summit of which 
can be reached on horse-back, is perhaps the most 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 205 

magnificent that can be attained in any locality in the 
State — which, all-in-all, is a land of wonders. The 
peak itself rises from the edge of the great moun- 
tain range ; to the west, are hundreds of mountains 
scarcely inferior in their altitude to this giant of the 
region ; to the east and south, the eye revels in a 
panorama such as nowhere else reveals itself to hu- 
man vision. Over thousands of square miles extend 
plains and valleys of unsurpassable loveliness, of 
gorgeous picturesqueness, over which roam count- 
less herds of cattle; there, terrific yawning canons, 
and yonder, gleaming in the sunlight, little lakelets, 
flaming like the sun; there flow large rivers that 
have gathered their waters from mountain streams, 
that ghtter and flash as they fall over obstructing 
rocks in their course ; mountain sides and summits 
gilded by the sun's ever glorious rays ; there, deep 
forests, with mantles of deep green — everywhere 
scenes of marvelous beauty and grandeur. 

The " Garden of the Gods" is a delightful valley 
of perhaps five hundred acres, surrounded by high 
mountains and sandstone chffs, an emerald of beauty 
with gorgeous setting. The traveler approaches 
it by a narrow passage between two rocky ledges, 
known as the "Beautiful Gate." The most pecul- 
iar and interesting features of this wonderful garden 
are a number of isolated rocks of soft red and white 
sandstone, some of which have a perpendicular 
height of from two to three hundred feet. Specu- 
lation may define what geologists evidentlygCan not — 
by what freak of Nature these massive rocks were 
placed in their positions. 

Similar wonderful features are found in Glen 



206 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Eyrie, one of which, but ten feet in thickness, 
towers aloft to the height of several hundred feet. 
In the Cheyenne Canon, five miles from Colorado 
Springs there may be seen many singular rock for- 
mations and numerous cascades and rapids. 

Of all the great canons in Colorado, there is none 
which is in all respects so remarkable as the Grand 
Canon of the Arkansas. This most magnificent 
gorge through the mountains, rivahng in pictur- 
esque beauty and grandeur the Great Canon of 
Eio Colorado, and with precipitous walls of rock 
rising perpendicularly to the height of two thousand 
feet above the roaring, rushing river, is a scene 
never to be forgotten. Its entrance is just above 
Canon City, and it extends a considerable dis- 
tance through the mountain ridge, presenting new 
beauties from every point of view. 

Through the Grand Canon of the Arkansas a rail- 
road has been constructed. Of this grand achieve- 
ment of enterprise, skill and perseverance, a tourist 
says : "Few have an idea of the immense obstacles 
and difficulties that had to be overcome to build a 
road through this terrible chasm. Those who have 
not passed through the canon can have but a faint 
idea of the weird grandeur and awful magnificence 
of this great work of nature. Clear Creek Canon, 
Veta Pass and other celebrated spots in the mount- 
ains sink into insignificance when compared with 
this, the grandest of all the wonderful freaks of 
Nature's handiwork. 

No man had ever passed through the wonderful 
gorge before the completion of the road, except dur- 
ing the winter when the ice had arrested the flow of 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 207 

the turbulent Arkansas, which, however, was a rare 
occurrence, the current being so swift that ice could 
not form except in extremely cold weather. Tour- 
ists were accustomed to look down into the terrible 
gorge from the top, but it was not possible to get a 
clear idea in this way of the awful grandeur of the 
chasm and its extent and dimensions. 

Persons on the first train that went through were 
spell-bound and unable to express their emotions of 
awe and wonder. The Eoyal Gorge, as the center 
of the canon is called, is the grandest and most 
wonderful spot in the world. An immense moun- 
tain torn open by some mysterious power, making a., 
cleft that is from twenty to twenty-five feet wide in 
the narrowest part, while the immense rock wall rises^ 
higher and higher, until an elevation of two thous- 
and-two himdredfeet, is reached on both sides. Sun- 
shine does not last long, even on the clearest days^ 
in the bottom of this fearful gulf, and the beholder 
is impressed, as he gazes upon the scene, with the 
terrific strength of that awful power which at some 
remote period of the world's history sundered these 
masses of granite and porphyry rocks in twain. 

Through the bottom of the canon, the Arkansas 
Biver roars and dashes over the huge rocks which, 
in many places, interfere with the free flow of its 
foaming waters, creating numberless water-faEs and 
rapids. The entire length of the Grand Canon is 
but eight miles, and the Royal Gorge comprises four 
miles in the centre, where the canon is narrowest 
and the water the highest. The railroad enters the 
canon at Canon City, a small town of about 200 
inhabitants, which has been the terminus of the rail- 



208 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

road, and from here to Leadville stage lines were run- 
ning. The road cut through the canon is a nar- 
row guage three-and-a-quarter feet, and the small, 
narrow and light cars are well adapted for a road hke 
this, that has an up-grade of fifty feet to the mile, 
and has continually to round curves on a narrow 
road-bed. The road is solid and firm, most of the 
grade being cut in the solid rock. The hue is raised 
in most places, ten to fifteen feet above the surface 
of the water, and follows the sinuosity of the stream, 
rendering it very crooked. The rock thi'ough which 
the grade is constructed, is granite and porphyry of 
the hardest kind, and at some points this rock had 
to be blasted to a depth of eighty feet. In the re- 
moval of large masses of rock, portions as large as a 
large frame house came down and fell into the river." 

Dr. A. C. Peale thus sketches several notable 
features of mountain and park scenery : 

" We reached the summit of the low range bor- 
dering South Park on the east. From the pass 
through w^iich the road crosses, we have a grand 
panoramic view. The entire park, about fifty miles 
long and twenty-five wide, lies spread out before us 
looking like a vast grass-covered plain beyond which 
rise the peaks of the Park Range, in which Buffalo 
peaks stand out most prominently. 

" When we descend into the park we find that it 
is not a uniformly level plain, as we might imagine 
in looking down upon it. What appeared from the 
hills to be shght irregularities of its surface now re- 
solve themselves into hills and ridges from 400 to GOO 
feet high. In the southern part of the park, there are 
numerous salt springs and marshes and low bottoms 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 209 

•covered with a white alkahne efflorescence. All the 
water in this part is impregnated with this alkah, 
as it is called, and is intensely disagreeable in taste.' 
The general elevation of the park above sea level 
is about 9,000 feet. 

" The mining center at, present is the region along 
Mount Lincoln. Here on the very summit of the 
mountain, 14,121 feet above sea level, we find miners 
busily at work digging out the precious ores, which 
are loaded on the backs of donkeys in bags, one on 
each side, and carried to smelting works at the base 
of the mountain, 4,000 feet below. 

'' Work cannot be commenced until late in the 
spring, and even then the miners have to dig in the 
frozen ground, which in some places never thaws 
during the entire season. 

" From Fair Play, which is the depot of sup- 
ply for the mining districts of South Park, we 
proceeded across the Park Eange to the valley of 
the Arkansas. On the west side of this river is the 
Sawatch Eange, or, as it is sometimes called, the 
Snowy Eange. It extends north and south, ter- 
minating at the north in the mountain of the Holy 
Cross. This is one of the finest ranges in the Eocky 
Mountains, and as far as is known, includes a greater 
number of high peaks than any other. In the grand 
panorama spread out before us from the summit of 
the Park Eange, we have Massive Mountain, Mount 
Elbert, La Plata Mountain, Mount Harvard, and 
Mount Princeton, aU over 14,000 feet in elevation, 
with many besides reaching to between 13,000 and 
14,000 feet. The entire range was once the seat of 
intense glacial action, and the combined action of 



210 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ice and water has carved out deep canons and 
gorges in which the rocks are rounded and i)ohshed. 
Following the valleys of the creeks from the mount- 
tains down in graceful curves are long morainal 
benches. These benches are made up of boulders 
that were carried down by the glaciers. 

On Lake Creek, near the base of Mount Elbert 
are the beautiful Twin Lakes. The lower is the 
larger, being a little over two miles in length and 
a mile wide. They are separated by a narrow strip 
of land, and betw^een is a wide, shallow stream. 
Both are filled with trout and afford ample oppor- 
tunity for pleasure to the angler. 

Leaving the lower lake, we passed through the 
deserted town of Dayton, which has shared the 
fate of so many Western mining towns, and pro- 
ceeding up Lake Creek, bade adieu to civihzation. 
From this point we leave wagon roads and have 
only occasional trails. We struck out into a coun- 
try unknown, save by the Indians and trappers and 
prospectors. Lake Creek, a short distance above 
the lakes, is in a canon, and it rushes over its 
rocky bed in a series of rapids and cascades. At 
one place there is a beautiful fall, and just below it 
the stream passes between two high rocky walls, 
which at the top approach each other, and in the 
chasm left between, a huge boulder has fallen form- 
ing a natural bridge. 

" From the head of Lake Creek, w^e cross to Pacific 
waters, and following up Taylor River and Dead 
Man's Gulch, the scene of an Indian massacre, we 
find ourselves in the Elk Mountains. The Elk 
Mountain range is perhaps one of the most peculiar 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 211 

and at least geologically interesting ranges in the 
Eocky Mountains. In it there are several eruptive 
centres— places where the granite has been thrust up 
and has broken through the overlying sandstones 
and other sedimentary beds. The stratification of 
the latter has given a step-hke appearance and pyra- 
midal form to many of the peaks. The granite 
peaks all have sharp, rugged summits, and vast 
amphitheatre-hke faces, which in the past were 
fiUed with glaciers, as the Alps are to-day. Now, 
however, we have only snow-fields and httle emerald- 
tinted lakes, frozen over the greater part of the 
year. The view of the Elk Mountains that we had 
from the summit of the Itaha Peak was perhaps the 
finest we saw during the season, not only from its 
extent, but also on account of its variety. Itaha 
Peak was ',so named from the display on one of its 
faces of briUiant red, white and green colors, the 
national colors of Italy. In the center of the grand 
panorama there spread out before us, we have the 
high, sharp and jagged peaks of a very hght color, 
their amphitheatres filled with snow-banks. On 
the outside of this area, and rising in peaks equally 
high, we have the sedimentary beds. Here the 
form of the mountains is difl'erent. Instead of 
sharp peaks we find pyramidal forms. The color 
also in these varies. At the base we find ochre and 
orange-colored beds, and above them dark maroon 
sandstones gradually becoming brick red, and on 
the top of all, in patches, hght yellowish beds of 
more recent origin. Thus we have variety, not only 
in form, but in color also. 

" Teocahi Mountain is situated in the midst of 



•212 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the Elk Mountain range, and is on the southern 
edge of one of the granitic areas at the edge of 
TeocalU Creek. It was named from its resemblance 
to the Asiatic TeocaUis or Sacrificial Pyramids, on 
the summit of which human sacrifices were offered. 
It rises 13,098 feet above sea level. The lower por- 
tion is composed of granite, and is beautifully 
grassed over. It is in the upper third that the pj^ra- 
midal form is most apparent. Here it is composed 
•of stratified rocks, mostly dark maroon-colored sand- 
stones, which at a distance have the appearance of 
a succession of steps, each one receding from the 
one below. When we ascend the mountains these 
steps, which from the valley seem easy of access, 
are found to be high bluffs cut by deep ravines and 
gullies, through which we have to crawl carefully, 
holding tightly to the projecting masses of rocks. 
Many of the chffs are weathered into towers and 
•castle-hke forms." 

In traversing another part of the country, we 
■came, one day, to a canon, in the bed of which ran 
;a very rapid stream, too unimportant to be designa- 
ted as a river, whose rocky banks were almost as 
regular as art could have made them. From the 
brink, the roaring, seething, bubbhng, rushing water 
was hundreds of feet below. The deep gorge was 
directly before us. Mr. Warrington espied upon 
the opposite side some new floral specimen which he 
desired to possess, and, though it seemed impossi- 
ble to cross the gorge, as narrow as it was, it was 
determined that the attempt should be made. Pro- 
ceeding for a little distance, following the line of the 
chasm, we found a place where a taU tree had fallen 
and extended across it. 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 213^ 

The passage-way was now easy enough, seem- 
ingly, and if for a moment we experienced the least, 
apprehension or doubt of the safety of the bridge,, 
our confidence was restored on discovering evi- 
dences that other human beings or large animals, 
had crossed before us ; and without delay Barstow 
led the way and accomphshed the undertaking as. 
easily as he would have walked along a forest path. 
Warrington started to follow him. The entire dis- 
tance was not more than fifty feet, but the hmbs of 
the tree had become dry and broken, and there waa 
nothing but steadiness of nerve and strength of 
muscle to sustain him, and that should have been 
enough, but it was not. Had he looked straight 
ahead all would have been well, but he looked di- 
rectly down — down into the roaring abyss. 

Pettibone had seen the danger from the first, and 
had advised him to allow Mr. Barstow to collect the 
desired specimens, since he was already on the 
ground, but Mr. Warrington was self-confident, and 
chose to pass over himseK. Seeing the imminent 
danger to which the man was exposed, Pettibone 
now called to him to 'look up,' but again his advice 
was unheeded. The apparent hesitation with which 
he advanced though he did not speak, rendered it 
certain that he had lost confidence in his abihty tO' 
proceed. Here on this mast, large enough and 
strong enough to sustain the weight of a dozen men 
at least, Warrington's alarm became so great that 
he could not advance another step. He called to 
Barstow, who was already at some distance in ad- 
vance. Barstow discovered his friend's phght, com- 
prehended the great peril, and tried to re-assure 



214 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

him, but in vain. Had he brought his gun to his 
shoulder, given a command backed by a threat of 
firing, it might, perhaps, have cured his nervous- 
ness in an instant, upon the principle of siyn/lia 
svmilihus curantur, but he tried to convince the man 
of the absurdity of his alarm, and started to go 
toward him, too late, however, to be of service, for 
at that instant poor Warrington fell — not, however, 
into the abyss, but in falhng he clutched a hmb of 
the tree, and for a moment was dangling in the air, 
sustaining his great weight by one hand. Quick as 
thought, Barstow and Pettibone flew to his rescue, 
but their aid was not required ; the fall had broken 
the terrible spell that had caused the^^catastrophe, 
so well-nigh fatal, and before either of the gentle- 
men could reach him, he had regained his footing 
and walked safely over ; having gathered the speci- 
mens for which he had periled his hfe, he w^alked de- 
hberately back across the bridge as calmly as he 
would have crossed a parlor floor. Naturally a brave 
man, and ordinarily unmindful of perils from which 
others might shrink, his sudden and terrible alarm 
upon that occasion, is even to him inexphcable. 



216 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE XII. 

The Rivers of Colorado — The Great Mining Eegions— Leadvllle — Cities 
and Towns of Special Interest — Resources and Productions of the 
State — The Great Colorado — Houses of a Buried Race — Indians. 

The river systems of Colorado include the Upper 
Arkansas, Platte, Rio Colorado, Rio Grande, the 
Smoky Hill and Repubhcan Forks of Kansas River. 
The South Platte rises in the north-west corner of 
South Park at the base of Mount Lincoln, and with 
its tributaries drains the eastern slopes of the moun- 
tains north of the Divide. It flows southeast 
through the park and receives many tributary 
streams. After passing through the "foot hills," it 
runs northerly to its confluence with the Cache a la 
Poudre, and thence easterly to the frontiers of Ne- 
braska. The Arkansas rises in the eastern slopes of 
the Grreat Divide and passes through the mountain 
range at Canon City, thence across the plains, with. 
a course of nearly five hundred miles in Colorado. 
These rivers are not navigable. 

The Smoky Hill and Republican forks of the Kan- 
sas have their sources in the eastern portion of the 
plains and pursue an easterly course to the borders, 
of Kansas. The region of country west of the main 
range and north of the Uncompahgre Mountains is 
drained by the tributaries of the Rio Colorado and 
those of the north fork of the Platte, which flow 
through the fertile regions of the North Park. The 
chief northern tributaries of the Colorado are the 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 217 

Bear, White, Green and Grand Rivers. The Ria 
Grande rises in Southwestern Colorado, pursues an 
easterly course for 150 miles, and thence flows to 
the south through the San Luis valley. 

The mountains are chiefly composed of granite 
rocks which contain gold and silver. West of the 
main range, the country is of volcanic origin, the 
lava rocks not yielding metals. To the rich mines 
of Colorado very much of the prosperity of the 
State is due, but great as are the mining interests, it 
must not be supposed that the precious metals are 
always found in abundance even in places where the 
indications are such as to seemingly warrant a large 
expenditure of capital and labor. The open mouths, 
of abandoned mines, everywhere to be seen in the 
mountains, though voiceless, give warning, other- 
wise the great mines would excite a furor equal to 
that of the early days of California. 

On the way from Denver to Central City, we pass 
through the marvelous Clear Creek Canon. The 
bed of Clear Creek has evidently been very thor- 
oughly washed out in the search for gold. Millions, 
of dollars have been taken therefrom by gulch 
mining, as Chinamen are now at work washing 
the soil again, using the abandoned sluices, and 
content with earning $1.50 a day by their labor. 
These gulch-miners live in cabins by the side of the 
creek. An account of the mining industry of the 
State may interest the general reader. 

Gold is found in lodes and fissure-veins, and in 
gulches or placers at all points within the belt of 
about fifty miles in width, which extends north 
and south through the center of the State. It is. 



218 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

obtained by amalgamation on copper plates and by 
means of the electric battery. The silver ores are 
divided into two classes — surface and galena depos- 
its. The cost of recording a claim to an area of 
land 1,500 by 300 feet, for a mine, is $150. Upon 
this land 1^500 worth of labor is supposed to have been 
done before the claim can be recorded. More than 
one hundred thousand such claims have been re- 
corded in Colorado, thus showing the enormous ex- 
penditure of sixty-five miUion dollars before a single 
dollar has been taken, and before it is certain that a 
single dollar ever will be taken from the earth. In 
a single day's ride over the country, hundreds of 
abandoned claims may be seen. 

The silver ores of Leadville and Lake County are 
mostly found in the form of carbonates, containing 
a very large proportion of lead. The mineral strata 
are reached at depths of from ten to one hundred 
feet, but silver ore may be found at any depth. The 
carbonates alone are rich, and extend over an area 
of two hundred square miles. The richest region 
so far known is Leadville and vicinity. As a rule, 
paying earth will be found within the first hundred 
feet. Here an industrious miner, with or without 
■experience, will, in almost all cases, have success. 
There are no silver mines known which are so easily 
worked, and which require less expensive machinery, 
nor are there any whose product is so easily reduced 
as that of the Leadville mines. The ore is raised in 
buckets by horse-power. The entire outfit, includ- 
ing the horse, does not exceed five hundred dollars. 

In the winter of 1859, ten years after the great 
gold excitement of California, gold was discovered 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 219 

in California Gulch, Colorado. It was found in 
placer-diggings, but those were soon exhausted, 
and the mining town of Oro — three miles from 
LeadviUe — was deserted, although it had at one 
time not less than ten thousand inhabitants. Until 
1875, the attention of miners had been directed exclu- 
sively to gold — silver had not been discovered — but 
in 1877, high-grade ore in inexhaustible quantities 
was found in the iron mine. The early famous mines 
were Camp Bird, New Discovery, Little Chief, Ea- 
ton, Vulture and Little Pittsburgh. 

In the LeadviUe district, the mines are nearly all 
owned by capitalists of Eastern cities, especially of 
Chicago. In 1878 over 10,838 tons of ore were 
smelted, producing over three mihion ounces of sil- 
ver, worth ^3,230,000. The value of lead produced 
was over $700,000, and this, with the gold of the 
placers, gave an aggregate of the mineral product 
of Lake County, for that year, of over four miUion 
doUars. 

Sixteen miles north of LeadviUe is a promising 
district, known as Ten Mile Creek, in which sulphu- 
ret ores have been found ; but hard and soft carbon- 
ates have been discovered in adjacent districts. Ten 
Mile Creek is a thousand feet higher than Lead- 
viUe ; it hes in the basin formed by spurs of the 
Rocky Mountains, and includes several noted gulches 
where placer gold has been mined in considerable 
quantities. 

Passing along Clear Creek, we arrive at length at 
Black Hawk and Central City. A walk down the 
vaUey in which these placers are located, is interest- 
ing, and especiaUy if we visit " Brigg's " mine and 



220 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

descend into it to the depth of a thousand feet, where- 
the miners are at work. The mine is exceedingly- 
rich. Georgetown — known as " Silver City," — a 
place of several thousand inhabitants, is situated be- 
tween the towering snow-clad peaks. Silver Dale and 
Silver Plume, two little mining tov^Tis, are adjacent. 
From Georgetown many points of interest may be 
reached by carriage ; among these is the Argentine 
Pass of the Great Divide. Standing upon it, we 
may see streams from the same rain-shower flowing 
dowTi one side of the mountain toward the Atlantic, 
and down the other toward the Pacific. Empire 
Pass is but four miles from Georgetown ; but the 
most interesting trip of all is that to Gray's Peak — 
the highest mountain in Colorado, its elevation be- 
ing 14,434 feet. A carriage road leads to within 
three miles of the summit, and a good trail leads 
directly to the top. The sure-footed mountain-horse 
and the patient donkey will carry travelers safely 
up. Snow lays in patches all along the way, even 
in midsummer. From the summit, range upon 
range is spread out before us; and Pike's Peak, 
ninety miles distant, is clearly discernible. 

Georgetown is the county seat of Clear Creek 
County, and the centre of the great silver-producing 
region. It is fifty-four miles distant from Denver, 
and one hundi'ed eight-four from Cheyenne, and has 
an elevation of 8,450 feet above the level of the sea. 
It is a busy and beautiful city of between four and 
five thousand inhabitants. The gold and silver 
mines of Clear Creek County have yielded fourteen 
million dollars. The princely sum of three miUions 
has been taken from the "Dives Pelican." The 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 221 

"Terrible," "Colorado Central," "East Eoe," and 
" Equator," have been very productive. 

The Cheyenne Canon is especially interesting. 
At Seven Falls the tourist may see a striking vista 
of the plains, bounded by the abrupt walls of the 
gorge. It is a scene of marvelous beauty and 
grandeur. 

It is not easy to attain an adequate conception of 
the grandeur and majesty of the great red walls of 
the G-rand Canon, seamed and furrowed from top 
to bottom. In places trees grow on the top and 
down to the very edge of the chasm. 

There are many kinds of dwellings in the State, 
from the elegant residence of brick or stone, to the 
adobe-plastered, earth-roofed log cabin, the huts of 
hemlock or cottonwood boughs, the canvas or skin 
tent, or the caves of miners and stockmen. 

In Bear Creek and in many other creeks, there 
are abundance of fine trout; indeed the small 
streams aU over the State offer ample attractions to 
the sportsman and angler. 

The counties of Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin and 
Boulder are perhaps the best mining regions of the 
State— certainly the best known. Within a radius 
of forty miles from Denver are many important 
towns. Gilpin county, although one of the smallest 
counties, has furnished haK the mineral product of 
the State. The mineral belt is about ten miles in 
width and extends into the neighboring counties. 
In the last nineteen years, the aggregate production 
of gold and silver of this region has been more than 
thirty-eight and a half millions. Among the notable 
mines are the "Gregory," "Bob-tail," "GrinneU," 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

"BiuToughs," and "Kansas." The average depth 
of these mines is eight hundred feet. In 1877 these 
mines employed 1,500 men and yielded during the 
year ^2,300,000, or |51,500 for every man so em- 
ployed. Of the many growing and busy towns of 
Colorado, the mention of several of the most impor- 
tant must suffice. 

Idaho Springs in Clear Creek County, sixteen 
miles east of Georgetown, is an interesting place, 
not more from its hot and cold mineral springs, than 
for its position in the mining regions. 

Greeley is a pretty little city on the Cache a la 
Poudre river, named for one of its founders and 
patrons, Hon. Horace Greeley. It was first settled 
in the spring of 1870, by a colony from New York, 
who purchased 12,000 acres of land and laid out a 
town. Canon City occupies the gateway of the 
Southern mountains, and is beautifully situated on 
the Arkansas river. It has communication with 
LeadviUe by stage lines. Golden City, sixteen 
miles from Denver, was settled in 1859 — the days of 
placer-mining. It has a population of about four 
thousand, and is notable for its manufacturers. 
Central City, the capital of Gilpin County, is a min- 
ing place of considerable note. It is four miles from 
Black Hawk and has an elevation of 8,200 feet. 
Del Norte, Lake City, Kit Carson and Eosita, are 
busy places. 

LeadviUe, 145 miles southwest from Denver and 
160 northwest from Pueblo, is a city of very great 
importance for its rich silver mines. It occupies a 
picturesque position in a basin of the moun- 
tains, formed by the Continental Divide, and the 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 223- 

Mosquito range, at the head of the Arkansas Eiver. 
It has the greatest elevation of any city in the United 
States, being ten thousand feet above sea level. We 
made the trip by stage from Webster City, passing 
through a most picturesque and wild region of 
country. The road for the distance of forty miles 
runs through the lovely valley of the Platte, through 
the great South Park, and past the famous Butte. 
All the stage routes to Leadville are exceedingly 
picturesque. The road from Canon City hither, 
passes through grand canons and along rocky and 
precipitous acclivities as it winds up the mountain 
side. Every moment of the toilsome ascent opens 
new scenes that are grandly beautiful, and the 
traveler forgets his fatigue in the interest and 
pleasure afforded by the view of such wonderful 
scenery. 

Arriving at length in Leadville, we find a city of 
perhaps fifteen thousand population, located in the 
centre of a great mining region. Fully two-thirds 
of the adult population are men ; women are scarce 
and no doubt command a heavy premium. The city 
is built of wood. The fifty-seven principal mines 
in the vicinity yield almost a miUion dollars a month. 

" The ' Highland Chief,' a gold mine," says Pro- 
fessor Newberry, " is one of the most extraordinary, 
simply from the magnitude of the deposit. The 
structure is similar to that of the ' Colorado Prince.' 
As to the workings, there is a shaft of 88 feet, cut- 
ting through the porphyry, and striking the ore body. 
From this to a depth of 162 feet, there is no bottom 
to the ore. No one knows at present the extent of 
this fissure, but it seems not improbable that it will 



224 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

be one of the great gold-fields of the world. It is 
certainly, in my opinion, one of the most promising 
gold-fields that has been discovered on this conti- 
nent. No portion is taken out that will not pay for 
working it. While I w^as there, thirty tons gave a 
return of ^50.95 per ton. I do not know of any 
gold mine in the world, with a width of sixty or 
eighty feet, that will average ^50 to the ton. The 
California mines, from ten or twelve to fifteen feet 
in width, return about $15 to the ton ; in the Black 
Hills, in gold mines which are really paying, a 
width of 150 to 175 feet carries $8, f 9, and $11 a 
ton." 

Pueblo is on the Arkansas, near its confluence 
with the Fountain River, and has an elevation of 
6,300 feet. It is the key to the San Juan country, and 
although it now contains but four thousand inhabit- 
ants, is the chief city of Southern Colorado. It 
supplies the mineral regions in the western part of 
the State. It is situated on a broad and level pla- 
teau; the chmate is delghiful, and the adjoining 
country remarkably fertile and productive. Ten 
miles distant from the city are the Boihng Springs, 
to which invahds resort in great numbers every 
season. 

Boulder City, 5,536 feet above sea level, is noted 
for its mining and agricultural industries. It has a 
population of about three thousand, and is the seat of 
the State University, and also of the Agricultui'al 
and Mechanical CoUege of the State. The county 
raises farm produce annually to the value of two 
millions, while its mines afford three-quarters, and 
its manufactures half a miUion doUars. In the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 225 

vicinity, gold and silver are found in large quanti- 
ties. Among the richest of the mines are the 
"American," "John Jay," thirteen miles distant, 
"Melvina," nine miles, and " Ni Wot," twenty-five 
miles away— all gold mines; the "Caribou," "No 
Name " and " Sherman " are most productive silver 

mines. 

The San Juan region covers an immense area of 
mountain country in the richest silver-mining dis- 
trict of Southwestern Colorado, embracing the coun- 
ties of La Platta, San Juan, Hinsdale and Ouray, 
with portions of Conejos, Eio Grande and Saguache 
Counties. In this country, almost unknown in 
1876, ove?.- the thousand silver mines have been dis- 
covered and located. It is said to resemble the 
mines of Potosi, in South America, which have 
yielded more than a thousand milhon dollars in 
silver. 

The mines of San Juan County have yielded 
largely; miners are coming in rapidly, and new 
towns are constantly springing up. In this region 
both silver and gold are found in abundance. The 
principal fields of operation are on the San Juan 
Eiver and its tributaries, and the affluents of Grand 
Eiver, on the western slope, and the head waters of 
the Rio Grande on the eastern. 

In the Eureka district, the Uncompahgre, Iron 
Springs, Mineral City, and Los Animas regions there 
are many rich mines. 

The agricultural resources of the State have been 
but partially developed, and yet the wheat crop of 
1877 was 1,700,000 bushels; corn, 250,000; oats and 
potatoes nearly as much, and hay, 87,500 tons. Val- 



m 



226 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

uable coal beds have been found in various places in 
the State. 

Freighting business by teams in the mountains is 
immense. Six or eight mules, or a dozen oxen at- 
tached to a wagon, are employed to haul freight 
through the wilderness, and it is not strange that 
freight on hea^^ machinery often exceeds the jnime 
cost of it ; and that hay has been sold for JJpl40 a 
ton. 

As a grazing country, Colorado is unsurpassed. 
In 1877 the shipments of cattle from the State were 
seventy-five thousand head, valued at two and a half 
million dollars. 

Herds of cattle belonging to different owners, 
stray from ranch to ranch, and were it not for dis- 
tinctive marks they bear, it would be difficult or im- 
possible for the several owners to designate their 
property, but by a system of management common 
to the ranchmen, the business of coUecting and sep- 
arating the stock is rendered very simple. During 
the months of summer and early autumn this work 
is performed. A director of the count, or " round 
up," is chosen, and his orders are obeyed by the 
force — forty or fifty men, provided by the ranchmen 
according to their respective interests. These men 
have two or three horses apiece, and are accompa- 
nied by assistants. Starting from a given point, 
taking a regular course, and camping at night 
wherever they may happen to be, they traverse the 
grazing regions in quest of the cattle. Each day 
the horsemen scour the country, and, w^ith the ex- 
pertness acquired by practice, they collect the ani- 
mals together, sometimes upon the plains and some- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 227 

times in a " corral," or large enclosure. The work 
is sometimes exciting to both riders and horses, and 
is always attended with danger. Occasionally a 
steer will attempt to escape, but is quickly brought 
back by the skillful horseman ; instances have oc- 
curred, however, in which the horse has been killed 
and the rider seriously wounded by an infuriated 
animal. Where their work can be done in corrals 
it is comparatively easy, but often it has to be done 
out on the open plain, and then it is more laborious 
and fatiguing. In isolated locahties, cattle are some- 
times very wrild, and will often attack a horse audits 
rider. With a well-trained horse, however, a vac- 
quero can always hold his ground against the enemy. 
The owners of the cattle always make it a point to 
be on hand when rodearing is to be done. They 
have a keen eye for their own stock if they have 
once given the animal a scrutinizing gaze, and brand 
or no brand, are generally able to identify. The 
branding, which is done with a hot iron, and the 
chpping, are usually the work of an instant, but it 
is an age of torture to the animals, which make the 
vicinity hideous with their bellowing while the work 
is going on. After this there is no further trouble 
for them until they get into the hands of the 
butcher. 

All the varieties of vegetables raised in temper- 
ate chmates, grow here in abundance and of superior 
size and quahty. The culture of the grape is hkely 
to become a specialty. 

Colorado has now thirty organized counties, and 
forty-two banks, with a capital of two and a haK 
miUion dollars; is free from debt, and, in all re- 



228 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

spects, is one of the most wealthy and prosperous 
States in the Union. 

Within the State there are 3,734 Indians, retain- 
ing their tribal relations — all Utes, and established 
at agencies of Los Pinos, Southern Utes, and White 
Biver. Their reservations cover twelve milhon 
acres of land. 

Major Powell, in describing the topography of the 
State, says : " The lower third of Colorado hes but 
httle above the level of the sea, while the upper 
two-thirds has an elevation of from four to eight 
thousand feet. Out of tliis basin or plateau rise 
snow-clad mountains to an altitude of from ten to 
fourteen thousand feet. Hardly any rain falls upon 
this upper basin of mountains, but in winter, im- 
mense drifts of snow cover these eternal rocks. 
When in summer, this snow commences to melt, 
ten thousand cascades and little streams are formed. 
They plunge down the rocky mountain sides, cut 
their courses through the immense plateaus, and 
gradually run as swift rivers through the silent re- 
gion. They cut deep channels through the rocks, so 
that the beds of these rivers are from five hundred 
to seven thousand feet below the general surface of 
the plateaus. 

"For two hundred miles the Green and Grand 
Eivers run in a channel cut to the depth of a mile. 
The whole upper two-thirds of Colorado is cut up by 
gorges and canons, so that the country is almost im- 
passable. There are no evidences that these canons 
are formed by upheavals of huge masses of rocks, but 
they are all caused by the slow but perpetual action 
of the mountain streams. If one hundred and fifty 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 229 

mountains like Mt. Washington were plucked up by 
the root, they would not fill the Grand Canon of the 
Colorado River. The fall of this river is very great, 
and differs from twenty-five to two hundred feet per 
mile; it is, therefore, not navigable. Moreover, for 
one thousand miles along the Colorado River there 
is no place where a town or farm could be located, 
for the river is entirely unapproachable for that 
whole distance. 

" These canons have carried away vast areas of 
sediment. The whole region has become one of 
naked rocks. Geological studies can here be made 
with certainty; every stratum can be measured. 
Nature lies before us like an open book. The 
amount of material carried away by this river is as 
large as a rock six hundred feet in depth, covering 
the States of New York, Pennsjdvania, Ohio and In- 
diana, or as large as California and Nevada. This 
vast amount of rock, the storms of ages have 
hurled off. 

" The rivers of Colorado are older than the val- 
leys and mountains. Gradually as the mountains 
rose, the rivers cut their way through them. The 
stratification of these rocks is never sweeping, but 
always vertically broken, rising or falling abruptly 
from one hundred to twenty thousand feet. These 
strata are always horizontal, and sometimes there 
are found zones of rocks twenty miles in width 
broken into irregular fragments. 

" The Colorado river carries about as much water 
as the Ohio at Louisville. Where the rock is soft, 
it forms a broad river, but where it passes through 
basalt, its channel is narrowed down to sixty or 



230 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

seventy feet, and through it this vast volume of 
water plunges and rushes in a mad, wild and irre- 
sistible stream that would carry anything before it. 
Sometimes when a storm rises and heavy showers 
fall, this mile-deep channel of the river is filled in 
an incredibly short time to a height of hundreds of 
feet, and the torrent sweeps through it at a most ter- 
rific rate. There are however no vertical falls of 
any magnitude in the Colorado." 
f Most interesting to the explorer are the thous- 

ands of ancient ruins found throughout the whole 
region. These habitations are built of stone and 
often reach a height of several stories. At the 
heads of the streams forming the Colorado, are the 
most ancient of these ruins ; while further down in 
the deep cliffs and canons they evidently belong to 
a later period. 

It seems that the people were driven from the 
beautiful valleys above to seek protection on these 
high chffs, which were better adapted for defense. 

Did the people who built these habitations belong 
to the race of Mound Builders whose wonderful 
works are to be found in Ohio and other regions 
east of the Mississippi ? There are no records or 
memorials of any sort to furnish data for an 
opinion. Of the race and of the great catastrophe 
that swept them from the face of the earth, all is 
conjecture. It is evident how^ever from similarity 
in the construction of these houses to those of 
Arizona and old Mexico that all were erected by the 
same race of people. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 231 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

■Climate of Colorado — Colorado Springs — The Chiann Mountain- -The 
Ute Pass — The Elevation of the Countiy at Points along the Route. 

Invalids from all parts of the world visit Colorado, 
and very many of them make it their permanent resi- 
dence. How grateful and invigorating to persons 
in the best of health is the lowering of the window 
and admission of the fresh air, in place of the op- 
pressive atmosphere of the room long closed and 
sealed against healthful ventilation ! So is it, but 
in a vastly greater degree, to the wan and weary 
victims of disease and medication, to step, as it 
were, from the confines of impurity, out upon the 
broad expanse of purity, to inhale no longer the noi- 
some air of crowded cities and marshy lowlands, 
but instead, the pure life-giving air from the moun- 
tains of Colorado. Here Nature's remedies are 
hfe's keenest enjoyments; here, upon the summits 
of the eternal hills, with scenery on whichsoever 
side we turn, of such sublimity and grandeur that 
the heart swells in silent homage to Him so near, 
that but to extend the hand is to reach the gates to 
the Eternal City. While to the sight there unfolds 
a panorama of idescribable beauty and awful sub- 
limity that moves the soul to its innermost depths, 
the physical being is awakened to new life and vigor. 

To consumptives, both in fact and in tendency, 
Colorado has become a Mecca, without equal on 
the continent for salutary climatic influences, and 




I. 








while it is' 
true that 
very many 
have found 
death, when 
they had 
confidently 
hoped for 
new life, it is seldom 
that a timely and suffi- 
ciently protracted visit 
is not attended with sig- 
nal benefit, if not in- 
deed entire restoration 
of health. The climate 
in all parts of Colorado 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 

is proverbial for its niildness. It is similar to that 
of Mexico, which is a continuation of the same 
plateau ; but there are portions of the State more 
highly favored than others. 

Colorado may be chmatically divided into three 
great sections — Northern Colorado, the main town 
of which is Denver; Southern Colorado, the chief 
points of which are Colorado Springs, Pueblo and 
Canon City; and the Mountain region, the prin- 
cipal towns of which are Georgetown, Idaho, Fair- 
play and Central City. 

Colorado Springs, the county seat of El Paso 
county, may be regarded as the chmatic centre of 
the State. This town, a favorite resort of invahds 
and of tourists, is on the line of the Denver and 
Rio Grande railway, seventy- six miles south from 
Denver, and has an elevation of 5,975 feet above 
sea level. Its latitude is 38 degrees 50 minutes, the 
same as Washington City. It takes its name from 
numerous medicinal springs in the neighborhood, 
the most important of which are grouped together, 
about five miles to the west, among the foot hills at 
the base of Pike's Peak, in a beautiful glen to 
which has been given the name of Manitou. It is 
the " Saratoga of the West." These are the celebra- 
ted " Boiling Springs," which years ago were made 
known to the world by Col. Fremont, Ruxton and 
other explorers. The native Indian tribes were 
aw^are of their healing properties, and regarded 
them as supernatural phenomena. The waters hold 
in solution sulphur, soda and iron. Thousands of 
invahds visit them annually, and many have estab- 
hshed their dw^eUings about them. The average 



•234 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

temperature of the region about Colorado Springs 
is about sixty degrees. The thermometer rarely 
indicates below zero, and seldom exceeds eighty 
degrees at the warmest. Hot, sultry days, or damp 
chilly nights are here unknown. Snow seldom 
remains on the ground longer than twenty-four 
hours. The winters are usually very mild and the 
absence of clouds the year round is indeed remark- 
able. The clear sky and warm genial sunshine are 
seldom hidden. The atmosphere is never burdened 
with malarial and poisonous exhalations, but on the 
contrary, is highly charged with electricity, is 
entirely free from humidity and is wonderfully 
exhilarating. 

The decomposition of animal matter takes place 
so slowly that the noxious gases engendered pass 
away imperceptibly. 

There is no such thing known in Colorado as 
"damp night air." Although the air is cool, it is 
perfectly dry, and a person may sleep with windows 
and doors of his dwelling wide open, summer and 
winter, without the risk of "taking cold." There 
are hardly a score of days, in any year, in which 
invalids may not sit out of doors, ride or walk, fore- 
noon or afternoon, with comfort and pleasure. 

The nights of midsummer are invariably cool; 
indeed, there are not half-a-dozen nights m a sea- 
son when blankets are in any degree uncomfortable. 
The early autumnal storms, so much dreaded in the 
East, never come here. The autumn is the gala 
season of Nature, during which comes a long pro- 
cession of lovely days, fresh but balmy, brilliant 
but never oppressive. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 235 

The bed of the Fountain Eiver, at Colorado 
Springs, is over a hneal mile higher than Philadel- 
phia. Here one must breathe more fully and more 
rapidly than on ordinary levels, and the result is a 
permanent increase of the breathing capacity. For 
most "ills which flesh is heir to," the increased 
activity imposed on the respiratory organs by resi- 
dence in high altitudes, is a direct and constant 
benefit. 

The mean annual temperature of this region is 
fifty degrees. For the five years from 1872 to 1877, 
the mean temperature in winter was thirty degrees ; 
spring, forty-six; summer, seventy; and fall, fifty 
degrees. Between July, 1872, and the close of 1877, 
there were only sixteen days on which the sun was 
entirely obscured by clouds ; and the average num- 
ber of cloudy days in a year was but sixty-five; 
in the two years, 1872-3, there were but ninety- 
■seven cloudy days. The annual rain-faU for the 
five years was fifteen inches— in winter, one-and-a- 
half; spring, six-and-a-hah; summer, four-and-a 
half; and faU, two-and-a-half inches. The average 
snow-f aU was twenty- two inches. The annual death- 
rate of Denver, the largest city in the State, and 
embraced in the northern chmatic division, is only 
ten to every thousand inhabitants — a lesser rate of 
mortality than that of any other city in the Union. 
New York has thirty-two, and New Orleans has 
fifty-four to every thousand. 

There are two facts arising from the altitude of 
this region, which, in a great degree, quahfy the 
temperature of the climate, but the influence of 
which is scarcely manifested by the thermometer. 



236 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

In the first place, there is a more marked difference- 
between the period from sunrise to sunset, and the 
period from sunset to sunrise, than there is on ordi- 
nary levels. A change of temperature is percepti- 
ble at the moment of sunset, and hence, a person 
forming his idea of cold merely from the thermomet- 
rical readings, would conclude that the winter is 
much colder than it really is. The other fact is, that 
when the sun shines, there is a more marked differ- 
ence between the sunshine and shade than there or- 
dinarily is elsewhere. The sun pierces through the 
air in the fullness of his power, but has compara- 
tively little effect on the atmosphere, — dry air being 
a poor conductor. 

Northern Colorado, as to temperature, is similar 
to eastern Pennsylvania, Denver being in the same 
latitude as Philadelphia. 

Colorado Springs has attractions for the tourist 
as well as for the invalid. It is a pretty httle city 
of about three thousand inhabitants, about sixteen 
miles distant from Pike's Peak, whose snow-clad 
summit pierces the skies ; four miles from beautiful 
Glen Eyrie, and from the famous " Garden of the 
Gods;" all of which picturesque and interesting lo- 
calities are accessible by good roads. The sur- 
roundings of Colorado Springs are marvelously 
beautiful. At a distance of six miles to the south 
of the city, is the great Chiann Mountain, one of 
the grandest, most picturesque, and beautiful moun- 
tains in the world. Separating this from the main 
range, is the wild and wonderful Chiann Canon, — 
the second of the continent for magnitude and sub- 
hmity. Eight or nine miles away, in a series of 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 237 

l3eautiful valleys, is the " Enchanted, or Monument 
Park," whose wonderful features of strange con- 
glomerate rocks have been mentioned. Near the 
South Park, through the Ute Pass— over which 
there is a good road— the traveler arrives at the Pet- 
rified Forest. Here are thousands of Petrified 
Trees, and other wonderful formations. 

The Ute Pass is a most romantic and picturesque 
gorge, through which Fontaine Creek flows. Here 
are the Ute Falls— a beautiful cascade, pouring its 
crystal waters over a precipice more than fifty feet 
in height. 

Southern Colorado is separated from Northern 
Colorado by the Great Divide, a high mountain 
range, which, beginning at the main range, about 
thirty miles south of Denver, extends almost due 
east. This chmatic division has a southern expos- 
ure under this great wall, with the general chmate 
of Norfolk, Virginia, except that it is dry. 

In the mountain regions, any degree of cold, up 
to perpetual snow, may be attained by going high 
enough. 

Persons in advanced stages of consumption should 
not venture into the rare atmosphere of greatly 
elevated plains, because of the necessity for in- 
creased action of the respiratory organs, which 
tends to hasten, rather than to retard, a fatal ter- 
mination; and the same rule is apphcable to any 
form of organic disease of the heart. 

Once at Kansas City, which is 653 feet above sea 
level, the pilgrim to the Eldorado of health is fairly 
in sight of "the promised land." He can leave 
Kansas City at noon one day, to sleep the next 



238 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

night at mountain base or peak, or he may make- 
a gradual ascent, stopping over at will at the many 
interesting points along the route. At Topeka, the 
elevation is 878 feet. Pushing onward, through the 
"Italy of America," as enthusiastic writers have 
termed the great southern belt of Kansas, the lovely 
valley of the Arkansas is soon entered, and at Car- 
bondale — so-called from the vast coal regions in the 
vicinity — the traveler has reached an elevation of 
1,089 feet. The gentle undulations of valley show 
a very slight fall at Burlingame. From thence to 
Osage City, the rise is scarcely perceptible, being 
on a level with Carbondale. There is a shght 
dechne at Beading, but at Emporia the elevation is 
1,169 feet; at Cottonwood, 1,192; Florence, 1,287; 
Peabody, 1,367; Newton, 1,445. Again, and for the 
last time during the entire distance, there is a shght 
fall at Halstead. The ascent is now steady and 
rapid. Burton noting 1,427; Hutchinson, 1,500; 
Sterhng, 1,613; Eaymond, 1,699; Elmwood, 1,759; 
Great Bend, 1,876; Lawrence, 2,035; Kinsley, 
2,224; Dodge City, 2,516; Lakin, 3,037; Sargent, 
3,425; and the hne of the two States is crossed — 
Kansas to the rear, and Colorado to the front. Up- 
ward and onward is the way; Granada being 3,485; 
Los Animas, 3,976; La Junta, 4,134; Eocky Ford, 
4,246; Apishapa, 4,326; Nepesta, 4,495, and finally, 
the terminus of the road at Pueblo, 4,764 — the 
mountains standing guard on all sides with the 
entrance to the " Garden of the Gods," directly in 
front, presenting features of unpareUeled grandeur. 
Manitou with its wonderful mineral springs; 
Denver with its mountain shadows; Idaho with its 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



239 



baths, hot from the mountains ; South, Middle and 
North Parks with their springs and wild and pic- 
turesque beauty ; Long and Gray's Peaks rivahng 
each other in their subhmity and altitude; Pike's 
Peak, over 14,000 feet above sea level, and on thus 
through the mighty range, one and all are Nature's 
grand laboratories where health, vigor and happinesa 
are dealt out in magnificent profusion. 




240 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A Trip to Utah — Among the Mormons— Salt Lake City — "The Dead 
Sea" — Mining Interests — The Early Settlements — Scenery of the 
Country. 

So rapid and yet so delightful had been our tour 
throughout the State of Colorado, and so nearly 
had the i^eriod to which we had limited ourselves 
expired, that but a few days remained for our pro- 
posed visit to Utah, and we were therefore obliged 
to content ourselves with seeing Salt Lake City 
and a few other points especially notable and inter- 
esting. 

We arrived by railway at Ogden — thirty-six miles 
north of Salt Lake City — the junction of the Union 
and Central Pacific Railroads, which pass through 
the northwestern part of the Territory. Ogden is 
a pretty httle town of four or five thousand inhabi- 
tants, distant 882 miles from San Francisco, Cah- 
fornia. Here are half-dozen churches, as many 
schools, and two good news journals. 

As we left Ogden on the Utah Central Railroad 
which runs from Ogden to Salt Lake City, we 
■crossed Weber River on a substantial iron bridge. 
Just beyond, we reached a high piece of ground 
hke a prairie, only that it is covered with sage brush, 
and soon descried in the distance the great - Salt 
Lake, its blue waters extending east and west, with 
lofty mountains forming a magnificent back ground. 
Now the sage brush grows thicker, and small game 
is abundant. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



241 



South of the cragged extremities of two moun- 
iain ranges, is the entrance to the Great Salt Lake 
valley. Here we saw fields waving with golden 
grain, orchards pendant with dehcious fruitage. 
Soon the Great Salt Lake was in full view. This 
beautiful lake, with its placid waters shimmering 
in the sunlight like a sea of burnished gold, reflect- 
ing the deep-blue dome above, and the grand old 
mountains which cast their sombre shadows over 





THE UTE PASS. 

its silent bosom, and then stretching away to the 
distant southwest, until it seems to kiss the over- 
hanging sky, is an object of the rarest grandeur and 
interest. This beautiful lake is fed chiefly by five 
mountain streamlets, and owing to the presence of 
saline matter it never freezes. 

The Great Salt Lake, or " Dead Sea," is the rem- 
nant of a vast inland ocean, with the ancient water- 

16 



242 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

marks still distinctly visible along the base of the 
mountains, where the erosion has made a well-de- 
fined hne of shore. The margin of the lake is cov- 
ered in some places so plentifully with salt that it 
may be shoveled up like sand. The only forms of 
life found in the lake are the Crustacea and a marine 
insect. The atmosphere is a bluish haze, and the 
scenery in the vicinity is very beautiful. The lake 
is eighty miles in length, fifty in breadth, and its 
elevation above sea level is 4,200 feet. Its commer- 
cial value is incalculable, as salt can be procured 
from its waters at a merely nominal cost, sufficient, 
not only for the wants of the interior States and Ter- 
ritories, but for the wants of the entire country. Va- 
rious analyses of the water have been made, all 
showing that it contains common salt, hme car- 
bonate, lime sulphate, epsom salt, magnesium chlo- 
ride, and iron. 

Salt Lake City, the capital and metropolis of 
Utah — " Zion," of the Mormons — is built on the 
banks of the river Jordan. The cleanliness of the 
place and general thrift and prosperity of the peo- 
ple, is remarked by all tourists. The site of the 
city is singularly picturesque and beautiful. It is 
at the foot of a spur of the Wasatch Mountains, and 
has an elevation of 4,261 feet above the level of the 
sea. Its latitude is 40 degrees 46 minutes north; 
its longitude 112 degrees 6 minutes west. The city 
was founded by the late President Brigham Young, 
in 1847. It is regularly laid out in blocks of ten acres 
each, and the streets, which, by the way, are lighted 
by gas, are 132 feet in width, with broad sidewalks. 
On either side is a clear stream of water from the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 243 

mountain canons, which, with numerous shade 
trees and gardens, give the city an indescribable air 
of coolness, comfort and repose. Street cars con- 
nect all parts of the city. The present population 
is nearly 25,000. 

The Jordan rises in the Wasatch range of moun- 
tains, pursues a northerly course, expanding into the 
charming Lake Utah, and flows still further north- 
ward to the Great Salt Lake, near which the city is 
located — the city of which one of her fair daughters 
sings : 

"Amid the dreary desert, 

Where hideous red men ream, 
Where beasts of prey were prowling, 

We've made ourselves a home. 
We have the ancient order 

To us by prophets given ; 
And here we have the pattern. 

As things exist in heaven." 

And we will take her word for it. If she does not 
know, who does? 

In passing through the city, which was for many 
years an important station on the overland route to 
California, our attention was first attracted to Tem- 
ple Block, which consists of ten or more acres situ- 
ated in the northern part of the city on the first 
"bench." The benches are level plateaus extend- 
ing along the base and parallel with the mountain 
sides, and rising one above another in regular suc- 
cession. They are supposed to have been formed by 
the action of water, which doubtless at one time 
covered the whole country, half way to the moun- 
tain tops. These benches overlook the city, which 
is mostly built on the bottom lands of the river. 

From the first bench, the view is especially de- 



244 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

light fill, including the lake, spread out in all its 
grandeur, to the westward, with mountaius bound- 
ing the horizon in every direction. 

The grounds are surrounded by a wall, from eight 
to ten feet high, built of stone and strengthened and 
supported by semi-circular buttresses at equal dis- 
tances. The main entrance faces south, and the 
gateway is surmounted by an eagle carved in stone. 
The pubhc buildings are numerous and some of 
them remarkable. The first in order is the Taber- 
nacle — an immense structure, the first object to 
which the eye of the tourist is attracted on enter- 
ing the city. At a distance its bell-shaped roof 
looks like a large hill rising above the trees. The 
building is oblong in shape, having a length of 250 
feet from east to west, by 150 feet in width. The 
roof is supported by forty-six columns of cut sand- 
stone, which, with the spaces between, used for 
doors and windows, constitute the wall. From 
these pillars or wall, the roof springs in one un- 
broken arch, forming the largest self-sustaining roof 
on the continent. The ceiling is sixty-five feet above 
the floor. In one end of the room is an organ which 
is fifty-eight feet high, thirty feet wide, and thirty- 
three in depth, and has 3,000 jnpes. The Taber- 
nacle is used for church purposes, as well as for 
other popular assemblages. It will seat 13,000 peo- 
ple. The building, when completed, wiU cost three 
miUion doUars. The Temple, now being built of 
granite from the Cottonwood Canon, is at the foun- 
dation, 186 feet by ninety-nine feet, the walls eight 
feet thick ; the towers are to be 225 feet high. The 
southwest corner of the block contains the Assem- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 245 

bly Rooms, a magnificent structure built on the site 
of the old tabernacle. 

Passing City Hall, the Theatre, the Tabernacle, 
and the residence of the late President Young, we 
come to the " Bee-Hive House " — a large handsome, 
two-storied adobe ^building erected at a cost of 
$65,000, which is one of the finest edifices in the 
territory. Temple Block is in fact quite a village. 

By the courtesy of Prof. Joseph L. Barfoot we 
visited the Salt Lake Museum, which is opposite 
the Tabernacle Gates, on South Temple Street. 
It contains almost everything that is found in Utah 
which is of interest to the tourist or visitor seeking 
rehable information respecting the minerals, ores, 
and natural resources of the region. The Museum 
is one of the best and most complete in all its 
departments of any west of the Mississippi — a 
credit alike to the city and to the curator, Prof. 
Barfoot, an eminent scientist to whose indefatigable 
labors and enterprise the excellence of the institu- 
tion is chiefly due. 

In this museum we saw numberless objects of the 
greatest interest — among which were specimens of 
fossils obtained in this region, views of Salt Lake 
City as it appeared in the olden time ; home manu- 
factures in silk and cotton, sugar, type and other 
things; some, fine specimens of calcareous tufas, 
petrified moss and sage brush; silk from Young's 
cocoonery ; portraits of Young, Kimball, Smith and 
other Mormon celebrities ; the last spike and tie of 
the U. C. railway, with the hammer used at the 
ceremony of opening the first railway into Salt 
Lake City, which was performed by Young, January 



246 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

10, 1870 ; a variety of silver and gold bearing ores of 
Utah — the several mining districts, of which there 
are many, being represented ; the silver reef ores ; 
silver bearing sand stones, w^hich are curious and 
new to science; silver ores from the Horn silver 
mine and the Ontario or Park district; the first 
bullion made from the ores of Utah ; the various 
hfe forms of Great Salt Lake — algae and Crustacea; 
the gold and silver coins of Utah ; a fine collection 
of Utah birds — the sage hen, prairie chicken, mud 
hen, orioles, w^ax wdngs, etc. ; relics from Kirtland, 
Nauvoo and Carthage ; ancient and modern curiosi- 
ties of the aborigines — chief's robes, weapons, 
scalps, tomahawk, pipe of peace, pottery, stone 
axes, meal stones, crania and rehcs from mounds; 
hving specimens of birds and reptiles of Utah ; Kit 
Carson's boat, etc. 

Many ill-natured things have been written of 
Salt Lake City and of Utah, by tourists who have 
observed with prejudice and written without justice ; 
and as the public abroad have turned to such writ- 
ings for information and truth, so have they been 
too often misinformed — where they have sought for 
truth they have found falsehood and error. A large 
proportion of the population of Salt Lake City are 
as cultured and as good citizens as people of Boston 
or New York. There/are thousands of people here 
who are not Mormons either in practice or in 
creed. Christian churches of the several denomina- 
tions are prosperous and prospering. The Method- 
ists have a fine church edifice which cost some 
$10,000, and other fine churches adorn the city. 
The news journals are first-class, the many schools 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 247 

are of fine order, and the people as enterprising, 
industrious and courteous as those of any city out- 
side of the Territory. 

Utah embraces an area of 84,476 square miles and 
lias not less than 130,000 inhabitants, exclusive of 
Indian tribes. The territory is diversified by moun- 
tains, valleys and plains. The eastern third of this 
vast region is drained by the Colorado and its trib- 
utaries, Green, San Juan and Grand Rivers and 
many smaller streams. The principal towns and 
settlements of Utah are in the fertile valleys of the 
northern and central portions — in the great path- 
way leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 
in the rich mining regions. 

By the treaty of the government with Mexico, in 
1848, the region of country now embraced in the 
territory of Utah, passed to the jurisdiction of the 
United States and on the 9th September, 1850, a 
Territorial form of government was established. 
The Mormons who had sojourned at Nauvoo, Car- 
thage and Council Bluffs, arrived in the Salt Lake 
Valley in July, 1847, while yet the country belonged 
to Mexico. In 1849 the Mormons met in convention 
and formed a constitution ordaining and establishing 
"a free and independent government," and Brigham 
Young was elected President. 

Till the settlement by the Mormons, the region 
was a part of the "Great Basin" of California, 
mountainous, barren and exclusively occupied by 
Indian tribes. 

The Wasatch range of mountains running north 
and south, divides the territory into nearly equal 
parts, which are broken up here and there by other 



248 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

mountains. Tlie riv^ers in the eastern part, generally 
flow through deep canons and cannot beutihzedfor 
irrigation ; the western streams can be so used and 
with the grandest results. Numerous lakes, of which 
Salt Lake is the largest, are found in various parts 
of the west, some being salt, some fresh, some very 
beautiful, but none with visible outlets. The sides 
of the higher ranges of mountains are clothed with 
timber, pine and fir, with some quaking ash, cedar, 
spruce, etc. 

"Imagine," says Wolfe's Gazetteer, "an alkali 
desert with here and there a patch of sage brush ;. 
its lakes salt or brackish, with a few exceptions ; its 
principal rivers flowing through deep cut banks, 
so dry that herbage perished from their very edges, 
yielding nothing for the sustenance of animal or 
man, nor a cent to the wealth of the world, and you 
have a picture of what Utah was. What it is to-day 
as the home of 125,000 of the Anglo-Saxon race, a 
land of fruits and grain, traversed by railroads,, 
enlightened by schools andnewspapers and churches, 
and enriched by industries, is the result of a defiajice 
of natural difficulties, an endurance of privation, an 
energy of ]nirpose and a sublime faith in human in- 
genuity and power without aparaUel in the history 
of the world." 

By irrigation, the desert became more fruitful 
than the lands of the Eastern States. In 1875 there 
were under cultivation 847,750 acres of land, the 
product of which was nearly three miUions bushels 
of wheat and immense quantities of other cereals, of 
the total value of seven-and-a-quarter miUions of 
doUars. Some tracts of land apparently fine, rick 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 249 

soil of superior quality fail to produce crops, owing to 
the superabundance of alkali and other mineral sub- 
stances, which encrust the surface of the earth. The 
agriculture of the country is carried on at a heavy 
expense incurred by irrigation, the land having 
generally to be watered several times to produce 
wheat and barley, and oftener for corn and roots. 
Thus far 277 canals have been constructed* at a cost 
of nearly two miUions dollars. Exploration by the 
settlers led to discoveries of coal, iron, silver, gold^ 
copper and lead, all in great abundance which from 
1868 to the close of 1875 yielded a total value of 
more than twenty- two and a half million of dollars ; 
some of these mines are very rich ; there are some 
copper mines yielding 75 per cent, of pure ore. The 
"Emma" mine, concerning which there has been so 
much litigation, is in the mountains of Utah. A 
silver region has recently been discovered in the 
vicinity of St, George, where silver is found under 
and in sandstone. In all probability aU the moun- 
tain ranges of Utah wiU be found to bear deposits of 
valuable minerals and precious metals. 

Mining in Utah first began in 1869, and at this 
time (1877), there are eighty-seven mining districts,, 
where miners are at work. It would be impossible in 
a hmited notice like this, to particularize all that is 
important in relation to the mining districts of 
Utah, or even to name the more important mines; 
it may however be remarked that every dollar taken 
from the mines represents a dollar's value in labor. 

On the completion of the Union Pacific Eailroad, 
the Mormons connected Salt Lake City with the 
great artery of commerce and also with the prin- 



250 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



cipal mining regions. There are nine railroads in 
operation to-day in Utah. 

The importance of the commercial interests of 
Utah appears by the fact that the value of imports 
into the territory, chiefly merchandise and manu- 
factured articles, reaches ten millions dollars per 
annum, and of the exports — mineral and agricultural 
products,— seven miUions per annum. 




AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 251 



CHAPTEE XV. 

Up the Missouri— Leavenworth— Other Points upon the River— Scenery 
—The Stock Business of the Plains— Remarkable Lakes— Struck a 
Snag— A Buffalo Hunt— Lost on the Prairie— Manners and Customs 
of the Indians. 

Upon our arrival at Leavenworth, we found that 
our party from the plains had also arrived and 
brought with them an ahundance of game and many 
trophies of their skill in the way of specimens for 
Mr. Warrington, and also a beautiful young fawn, 
which had already become quite tame. 

At Leavenworth, we were joined by two gentlemen 
of that city, Messrs. Lawrence and Forristall, who 
had business at one of the forts of the Upper Mis- 
souri, with ample leisure for making the trip, and 
who formed an agreeable accession to our numbers. 

Leavenworth is the chief city of Kansas. It is 
beautifully located upon a gentle eminence rising 
from the water's edge, and commands a view of the 
river for many miles. At this point, the river is 
three quarters of a mile in width, and during a 
freshet its current is exceedingly rapid. The first 
house built in Leavenworth was erected in 1854 ; its 
present population is about 25,000. 

Fort Leavenworth is situated three miles above 
the city, on the government reserve. The many 
government buildings located here give the place 
the appearance of quite a village. Very many govern- 
ment trains were formerly here fitted out for the 
'*' Far West," but the supplies are now carried by rail- 
road to points hundreds of miles nearer their des- 
tination. 



252 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Weston, Platte County, Mo., is four miles above 
the Fort. It was settled in 1838, and was formerly 
an important rival of Leavenworth City and St. Jo- 
seph, Mo. ; but westward was the course of empire, 
and Weston was soon left with her hands in her 
pockets, with plenty of leisure. The population is 
about 1,700 — not more than half its number twenty 
years ago. It is situated in a rich agricultural 
country, but other cities offer better markets, and 
its trade is unimportant. 

Forty miles above Weston, on the right bank of 
the river, is Atchison, Kansas. It is a hvely, pros- 
perous place, and rivals Leavenworth City in com- 
mercial importance. Its population does not exceed 
12,000. 

Still winding around numerous curves, and with 
some difficulty avoiding sand-bars and snags, we 
pursue our course and next arrive at St. Joseph, 
Buchanan county. Mo. The main portion of the 
city is built on "the bottoms," but many elegant 
residences have been erected upon the bluff that 
extends to the river just above the older portion of 
the city. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad 
gives it communication with the East, and other 
railroads to other important points. St. Joseph is 
distant from St. Louis 570 miles by water and 305 
miles by railroad. The manufactures of the city are 
varied and extensive, and in population and business 
activity, it is unsurpassed by any other point on the 
river except Kansas City. Its population is about 
28,000. 

The higher we ascend the Missouri, the more 
picturesque and varied is the scenery. The wide 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 253 

l)ottoms above St. Joseph are covered with a tall, 
rank growth of prairie grass, that sinks and swells 
in the passing breeze; rocky cliffs rise from the 
water's edge and tower aloft to the height of three 
or four hundred feet ; the river expands to grander 
proportions and often exceeds two miles in width. 

Nebraska City, the next important landing, is 
located on the west bank of the river in Otoe county, 
Nebraska, twenty- eight miles below the mouth of 
the Platte river. With the exception of Omaha, 
it is the largest and most important city in the state. 
Hundreds of expeditions have started from this 
point, on their journey acoss the plains. It is a 
flourishing city of about ten thousand inhabitants. 

Platte River unites with the Missouri thirty miles 
above Nebraska City. It is about one -third of a 
mile in width, but is too shallow for navigation. It 
is about one thousand miles in length ; and thous- 
ands of emigrant and government trains that have 
crossed the plains have encamped upon its banks. 
Its course is from the west. One of its affluents — 
the Sweet Water — flows from a gateway of the 
Eocky Mountains, known as the South Pass. The 
North Fork of Platte River, rises in the Rocky 
Mountains of Colorado, west of Long's Peak, and 
flows a northerly course till it passes near a deep 
■cleft in the mountains, known as Devil's Gap, then 
around Laramie's Peak and pursues an easterly 
•course to the Missouri. The South Fork rises in 
the vicinity of Pike's Peak and flows a northeast- 
erly course till it reaches and unites with the North 
-Fork, 150 miles west of the Missouri. 

The State of Nebraska comprises an area of 75,- 



254 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

995 square miles — larger than the whole of New 
England. There are no mountains in the State. 
The whole surface consists of rolling prairies, vast 
table and rich bottom lands in the valleys of the 
numerous streams. Nebraska is one of the great 
corn-growing and stock-raisilig States. The climate 
is delightful, and the soil — especially in the eastern 
part of the State — is excellent. Its wheat crop 
rivals that of California. 

Nebraska was a part of the territory purchased 
from the French in 1803. It was admitted into the 
Union as a State in 1867. Its capital is Lincoln. 

A brief description of the stock business of the 
plains will doubtless interest many readers. It 
should be understood that the grazing regions of the 
plains extend from Kearney, near the ninety-ninth 
meridian, to the Eocky Mountains, and embraces 
Southwestern Dakota, Southeastern Wyoming, 
western Nebraska and part of Colorado and Kansas. 
Through this vast region, cattle and sheep range, 
summer and winter, feeding on the rich prairie grass 
and requiring no attention except branding and 
driving to market, when in sufficiently good condi- 
tion. 

The whole country is occupied by ranches, thirty 
or forty miles apart. Ranches, as the reader may 
be aware, are the houses — mostly made of sod — 
where the herders eat and sleep. Government owns 
the land, except that the stock owners generally 
claim from 40 to 160 acres on the water-courses, 
where their ranches are situated, and this ownership 
of the ranch settles the title to the range, as the 
State law forbids any other party to allow cattle to 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 255 

remain more than three days on a range ah-eady 
occupied. A ranch is generally the abode of from 
two to five men, and these can care for from five 
hundred to two thousand cattle or sheep. Men 
owning over two thousand cattle — and there are 
many who have twelve thousand, and some forty 
thousand — generally have contiguous ranches, about 
twelve miles apart. 

The whole cost of keeping cattle a year, and mar- 
keting them, varies from two dollars and seventy-five 
cents per head for small herds — less than one 
thousand — to one dollar per head, for large herds. 
Three hundred two-year- old heifers will keep a 
family in moderate comfort, after the second year, 
and make the owner rich in ten years. The supply 
of cattle is kept up by natural increase and by the 
importation of stock from Texas, which are driven 
in herds of many thousands to Ogalalia, a small sta- 
tion on the Union Pacific railroad, some forty miles 
west of North Platte^ and sold to stock growers all 
over the grazing region. 

From June 10th till the latter part of July, these 
Texas cattle arrive at Ogalalia in such vast numbers 
that it is, beyond doubt, the greatest cattle market 
in the world. No choice is allowed the buyer, ex- 
cept as to age and sex — a thousand is a thousand — 
and the buyer takes his number, drives them to his 
range, brands them and then turns them loose. 

Omaha is the next city of importance upon our 
route. It is 820 miles above St. Louis on the west 
bank of the river. Its location is pecuharly favor- 
able in all respects. It is midway between the 
great oceans, in the midst of an extensive and 



256 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

exceedingly rich agricultural region and contiguous 
to rich mining districts; having uninterrupted 
intercourse by water with so many of the principal 
cities of the Union, and being also the chief central 
point and Eastern terminus of the great Union 
Pacific Eoad, the future of Omaha is full of grand 
probabihties. Akeady the capitahst has seen golden 
opportunities here, and numerous manufactories 
have been estahhshed that give employment to 
thousands of industrious hands. Omaha is pusliing 
forward with an energy commensurate with her 
brilhant prospects. She is building depots, ware- 
houses, elevators and bridges to facihtate dispatch 
in her great industries. The city is located on the 
^'second bottom" or plateau, fifty feet above the 
Missouri level ; the public buildings are many and 
elegant, and in all her appointments and surround- 
ings, Omaha gives unmistakable evidences of becom- 
ing a great city. The present population is perhaps 
25,000. It was named from the Omaha tribe of In- 
dians. Opposite Omaha, in Pottawatomie County, 
Iowa, three miles from the river, is Council Bluffs, 
a flourishing little city of 15,000 inhabitants. It 
derives its name from the memorable council held 
here in 1834, between Lewis and Clark and the In- 
dians. The Mormons settled here in 1846, and after 
remaining about three years, went forward on their 
journey to the holy land. The city has passed 
through many vicissitudes of fortune, and, like 
many other western cities, is laid out on a magnifi- 
cent scale. It has an air of permanent prosperity. 
The country in the vicinity is fertile and populous, 
and the city is attaining importance as a railroad 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 257 

centre. Its population is about fifteen thousand. 
We landed at Sioux City, which is situated on 
the left bank of the river just below the mouth of 
Big Sioux river, 900 miles above St. Louis. Its 
proximity to the frontier renders it an important 
trading post. The Big Sioux river unites with the 
Missouri just above the city. It is a narrow stream 
— not over 125 yards wide — but is 350 miles in 
length. It rises in the Eastern part of Dakota, near 
the source of the Minnesota river, which flows into 
the Mississippi. 

The lakes around the source of the Big Sioux are 
numerous, picturesque and beautiful. They vary 
in length from one to ten miles, and in depth from 
four to fifteen feet. They are perfectly clear and 
the trout and salmon they contain may be distinctly 
seen among the boulders at the bottom. The banks 
of some of these lakes are very low, of others they 
rise in towering cliffs a hundred feet from the 
water. Numerous bands of Indians roam at wiU 
throughout this picturesque region, and wild game 
of various kinds is plentiful. 

Embarking again, we pursued our way up the 
rapid stream and soon passed the mouth of Dakota 
River, which flows in from the north. This stream 
is about 600 miles in length and one hundred yards 
in width at its mouth; near which Yankton the 
Capital of Dakota is situated. 

The Niobrara river unites with the Missouri, a 
thousand miles above St. Louis. It rises in the 
foot hills about fifty miles north of Laramie Peak, 
and flows in an easterly course but a few miles 
distant from the northern boundary of Nebraska 

17 



258 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

and southern boundary of Dakota. It is about 700 
miles long and 200 yards in width. Just below the 
mouth of the Niobrara, our boat struck a snag, 
which caused considerable damage, and we were 
obhged to "lay up" for several days, for repairs. 
An opportunity was thus given for a grand hunt, 
which we gladly improved. Immense herds of 
buffaloes roam over the vast prairies on both sides 
of the river. Indeed the country between the Nio- 
brara and the Elkhorn may be called the " Hunter's 
Paradise." It has ever been a favorite region with 
the Indians. 

Transferring our ponies and camp equipage from 
the boat to the shore, our entire party, after fiUing 
our saddle-pockets with ammunition and provisions, 
started in a westerly direction, pursuing our com'se 
up the north bank of the Niobrara. For a few miles 
we traversed a densely wooded district, but we soon 
reached the open prairie beyond. Galloping to a 
gentle eminence, a scene of beauty and magnifi- 
cence was spread out before us. Far away to the 
western horizon, stretched this beautiful and vast 
savanna, varied at long intervals with undulating 
hiUs, as timberless as the level plains. South of us, 
and winding away toward the setting sun, the ser- 
pentine course of the Niobrara was traced for a 
score of miles, while north and east of us, the dark 
forests that border the swift Missouri were rustled 
into life by the western breeze. The earth was cov- 
ered by a rich growth of swaying prairie grass, and, 
even at this late season, thousands of beautiful 
flowers added their rich colors to the loveliness of 
the scene. To the north of our position, a mile or 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 259 

two out upon the verge of the w^ooded district, was 
a large encampment of Indian lodges, which formed 
an interesting feature in the enchanting landscape. 
The sun was fast sinking, and, upon consultation, it 




FORESTS OF THE UPPER MISSOURI. 

was agreed to pitch our tents in a little grove at no 
great distance from the river, to pass the night 
there and make an early start upon our expedition 



260 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the next morning. Our arrangements completed, 
our camp-fire lighted, and the evening repast over, 
three of us paid a visit to our red neighbors. The 
moon was shining brightly, and the air was just cool 
enough for comfort. 

As w^e approached the Indian camp, a loud jargon 
of sounds was heard. We reined in our horses for 
a few moments to hsten, and found that the savages 
were celebrating their arrival at the buffalo range 
by a hunting dance. They were assembled upon an 
open space in the middle of which were squatting 
the young men of the village, hideously painted and 
almost naked. A monotonous chant was begun with 
the accompaniment of the tom-tom, lustily beaten 
by a stalwart fellow, who at regular intervals added 
his heavy bass notes in monosylables, which were 
about as musical as those of a bull-frog. One of 
our hunters, who understood the language, trans- 
lated the words — " We have found the buffalo; he 
cannot escape; he may flee, but our horses are 
swift — our aim true ; we have slain many ; the buf- 
falo shall be food for our people," etc. The tom- 
tom is a hollow^ cyhnder with a skin tightly dra^AH 
across it — a kettle drum. The performer entered 
with zeal into his work, and his grimaces and ges- 
tures showed that he meant " business," if ever the 
fated buffalo should put in an appearance. The 
shrill treble of the feminine portion of the company 
mingled with the gutteral tones of the men, and all 
echoed the burden of the chant. Having proceeded 
in this manner for a time, becoming more and more 
spirited, the central group began a rude and savage 
dance, posturing and assuming all manner of posi- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 261 

tions expressive of the wonderful onslaught they 
proposed to make on the first opportunity, all the 
while yelhng hke so many furies. 

Our visit was untimely and not altogether safe, 
for though the tribe was at peace with white men, 
it is never certain how soon the peace may be 
broken, and they might not feel inchned to brook 
anything that might appear to be a disadvantage or 
hindrance to them, and, besides, the ecstacy and 
wild enthusiasm to which they had wrought them- 
selves, might lead to more or less " unpleasantness " 
should we, by any chance, give offense to them. 
However, at the close of the dance, we approached 
and through our interpreter, spoke to them. Al- 
though previously unaware of our presence, and we 
had suddenly appeared among them, they evinced 
no surprise whatever, and answered our salutations 
in their rude gutterals. Their reception of us, 
though not positively unfriendly, expressed very 
plainly that our presence was not welcome to the 
band, who hke ourselves, were in pursuit of game — 
with this difference, that while we desired only pas- 
time, they sought to procure suppKes for the com- 
ing season. 

We very soon took our leave and returned to 
camp, where we maintained a strict watch during 
the night. 

About midnight, and just as the moon was dis- 
appearing, a shght crackling as of stealt£y foot- 
steps was heard, and Barstow, who was upon 
guard duty, carefully reconnoitred the camp, but 
only a startled hare was descried, which quickly 
vanished. Nichols, who was a hght sleeper, had 



262 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

heard the rusthng, as shght as it was, and left the 
tent to confer wdth Barstow. In silence another 
hour passed, w^hen the stealthy step was again 
heard and this time was followed hy the barking of 
onfi of our dogs ; his cry w^as the signal for the pack 
to add their voices, and we were all aroused from 
sle0«ii. At that moment the crack of Barstow's rifle 
was heard, and uj^on leaving our tents, we saw^ tw^o 
Indians near the place w^here our horses w^ere teth- 
ered, making rapid flight to escape. Fortunately 
for us, however, the sedskins had not succeeded in 
steahng our horses, as they evidently intended to do, 
and perhaps more fortunate still, Barstow's shot had 
missed his mark. No further disturbance occured, 
and with both our hunters on guard, the remainder 
of the night we slept in peace. 

The next morning the Indian encampment was 
not to be seen. Their tippes or tents had been re- 
moved and the Indians had disappeared. 

The tippi or tent is formed by tying three poles 
together at the smaller ends, and raising them; 
other poles are then laid on and secured bj^ a cord ; 
the skin of the buffalo is elevated by a pole on the 
side of the wind, and is made to envelop the frame. 
The edges have eyelets and are joined by w^ooden 
pins. The base is fully expanded, the poles are 
thrust into holes in the ground and the skin securely 
fastened by stakes. An aperture for smoke is formed 
in such a manner that its position may be changed 
with the wind. The erection of the tippi, the kind- 
hng of the fire, and the cooking are all the labor of 
the squaw, while her lord and master saunters about, 
or sleeps, or smokes his pipe in the most comfortable 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 263 

place he can find. The question of "woman's rights " 
has evidently never been mooted among them. 

In hunting buffaloes, the Indians generally attack 
the herd from such a direction that the animals will 
be most liable to aj^proach the camp, and thus 
render the transportation of the game a less labor- 
ious task, for of all things, Indians have a constitu- 
tional disinclination for labor, however light, and a 
■chronic contempt for all who perform it. Very many 
animals are killed, if the hunt be successful. All 
parts of the creature are requisite to supply their 
wants and appetite. The skin forms the bed and 
the tippi ; the flesh is cut into thin slices and hung 
upon poles about their lodges to dry in the open air ; 
the portions which wolves and swine seem especially 
to prefer, but all civilized beings reject, are the tit- 
bits for the filthy gormands — the Indians. 

The next morning after our night experience, we 
left the camp and started upon the hunt for large 
game. West of us, at a distance of about two miles, 
we "sighted" a herd of antelopes. The beautiful 
•creatures alarmed by our presence, darted away with 
the swiftness of the wind, but instead of fleeing di- 
rectly from us, they wound in a graceful circle 
around us. At length our dogs, which we had pur- 
chased in Yankton, dashed after them in hot pur- 
•suit, when the antelopes fled precipitately to the 
river on our left, and we lost sight of them in the 
dark green woods. 

We journeyed westward during the whole of that 
day, and as night approached we turned our course 
toward the Niobrara, for the purpose of camping in 
the woods that border that stream. While setthng 



264 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the question of locating our camp at a certain in- 
viting spot on the bank of the river, our dogs sud- 
dently began a furious barking, a few hundred yards 
distant. Hurrying to the place from whence the 
sound proceeded, we found that the dogs had at- 
tacked a half grown bear. His bearship was perched 
upon his hind feet, with his back close to a large 
Cottonwood tree, and energetically engaged in the 
manly art of self-defence. A ball from a Henry 
rifle ended the encounter, and that night we feasted 
on dehcious steaks of bear-meat. 

Early next morning we were in our saddles, push- 
ing rapidly on in a westerly direction ; and toward 
night we crossed the Keyah Pahah river, a branch 
of the Niobrara that flows in from the northwest. 
No buffalo had been seen, although we had been 
watching anxiously for them all day. Suddenly, 
far to the south of us, a low rumbling noise like 
distant thunder was heard. The sound rapidly in- 
creased in volume, and soon what appeared to be a- 
large black cloud was seen low down upon the hori- 
zon, and moving rapidly toward us. Our position 
was perilous ; an immense herd of buffaloes was mov- 
ing down upon us. Our danger and the necessity 
of immediate flight at once became apparent to us 
all. 

Turning our horses toward a clump of trees that 
grow on the bank of the Keyah Pahah about a mile 
and a half northeast of us, we urged thein to their 
utmost speed. We did not look back, but the roar 
of the living torrent behind us constantly increased, 
and we fully realized our danger. The panic into 
which we had all been so suddenly thrown was con- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 265 

tinued until we were within two hundred yards of 
the timber, and the buffaloes were within fifteen or 
twenty yards of us, when the leaders of the herd 
changed their course abruptly to the left, and the 
whole column moved away with the velocity of the 
wind. Seeing this, one'of our hunters wheeled his. 
horse to the flank of the herd and laid two of them 
low with his rifle. 

We now discovered to our horror that Barstow 
was missing, and felt confident that he had been 
trampled to death by the buffaloes. Search was in- 
stantly made, but in vain, although it was continued 
all night. The next morning, however, we had the^ 
great joy of finding him safe and sound. His adven- 
ture formed the subject of a letter to friends across 
the water. In it he says : " Onward came the dark 
column hke a mighty river, and I began to feel that, 
my race was ended, when suddenly a dark object 
arose in front of me, upon wliich my pony sprang 
with all his force, and then fell headlong to the 
earth. The momentum that I had acquired carried 
me several feet in advance of him, and I received a 
stunning fall. I rose bewildered. The column of 
buffaloes had passed within twenty feet of me, on 
my left. My pony was gone and so were my com- 
panions. Near me on the ground lay a black wolf,, 
the object that had arisen in my path, now dead. I 
looked around for the clump of trees, but they were 
not visible. I started forward in the direction I 
supposed them to be, but every step I took added to 
my confusion. It is easier to thread the mazes of a^ 
labyrinth than to find a lost point on one of our 
Western prairies. Darkness set in. I thought of 



'266 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

the immense herd of buffaloes that had passed with 
the roar of a whirlwind, — I was saved. I thought 
■of my friends who had been swept so suddenly from 
my sight, — I was lost. 

Left alone as I was on the broad prairie, a hunter 
of greater experience w^ould perhaps have accepted 
the situation, and made the best of it where he was, 
but I could not content myself to wait till the dawn 
•of another day to begin the search for my compan- 
ions. To pass the night alone with a dead w^olf was 
not among the most agreeable things in hfe ; and 
then the probabihty that there were dozens more of 
the same ferocious species in my immediate neigh- 
borhood caused a thrilhng sensation to creep over 
me that was not at all pleasurable. I could not 
build a fire for I had no fuel. Night had set in and 
I was trying to decide what course to pursue, wdien 
I was startled by the long, di-eary howl of a wolf. 
Clasping my gun firmly, I started at once in a direc- 
tion opposite to that from whence the sound came. 
Soon, another wolf on my right aired his lungs in 
the same cheerful way, and directly the whole at- 
mosphere was stirred by such a chaos of happy 
voices as is to be heard only 0:1 the expanding prai- 
ries of the Great West. Wishing to treat my sere- 
naders with all the respect that the spirited nature 
of their demonstrations seemed to demand, I fired 
my rifle. A pause of a couple of seconds w^as fol- 
lowed by a howl so long that it seemed as though 
the whole wolfish tribe had a voice in it. 

Pushing energetically onward, my attention was 
suddenly attracted by a shght rusthng in the tall 
:grass a few feet to my right. Before I could assume 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 267 

n defensive attitude, a large object sprang with a 
sudden bound upon me. I grappled it with all my 
strength and threw it from me, when a low whine 
revealed the fact that it was only one of our own 
faithful dogs, which had been attracted to me by 
the report of my gun. The presence of the dog en- 
couraged me to hope that my companions w^ere not 
far off, and I fired several times, hoping that they 
would hear the report, and return the signal, but 
the night wore away and I heard no response. 

The first blush of the morning revealed to me that 
I was going toward the west, instead of the east, and 
I began at once to retrace my steps. Morning ad- 
vanced, and a scene of wondrous magnificence was 
spread out before me. An Eden arose upon my 
sight. Far away to the east, the landscape rolled, 
glowing with a profusion of gorgeous flowers. The 
sun seemed hterally rising from a sea of bloom. The 
picturesque waters of the Keyah Pahah were seen 
on my left, gleaming in the light of the morning 
sun and meandering away to the east hke a thread 
of silver. My cheeks were fanned by a gentle breeze, 
that bore on its wings the perfume of a thousand 
fragrant flowers. 

Wearied with a night of toil and w^aking, I sought 
a grassy mound that had been cast up by prairie 
dogs, and threw myself upon it to rest. I soon fell 
into a sound sleep from which I was abruptly awak- 
ened by the report of a gun, very near me. Hastily 
springing up, I was rejoiced by seeing my whole 
party riding slowly southward within three hundred 
yards of me. They had captured my pony and w^ere 
now searching diligently for its owner." 

After recounting our adventures, we mounted our 
Jiorses and rode rapidly away to the west. 



268 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 



CHAPTER XYI. 

Nebraska — Climate — Scenery — Resources — Beautiful Valleys — Over the- 
Plains — An Ocean Drained of its Waters — Old Fort Kearney. 

A beautiful State is Nebraska — a State of greatest 
fertility, a commonwealth where honest labor is 
amply rewarded, where skill and culture are duly 
esteemed, and where progress is the order of the day. 
Were but the half known abroad of the marvelous 
resources, the great and increasing facihties for 
business, the glorious climate and numberless ad- 
vantages and opportunities for achieving success^ 
offered in each and all of the States and Territories, 
west of the Mississippi, the tide of emigration west- 
ward, as great as it is, would become ten-fold 
greater. 

Nebraska was organized as a Territory in 1854,. 
with Omaha as its capital ; in 1867 it was admitted 
to the Union of States. 

" Any one who will take a map of the United States 
and draw a hne across it from New York to San 
Francisco, and regard that hne as the middle of a 
belt extending two degrees north of it, and two de- 
grees south of it, will realize a state of things, per- 
haps little suspected, but which will cast into the 
shade the grandest pictures that ever dazzled imagi- 
nation or immortalized art. That belt includes aU 
that man covets as essential to his happiness, the 
fuU development of his powers and the regal sway 
of his civihzation. It includes the States whose 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 269 

history, population and intelligence make their de- 
cisions final in the highest afiairs of State, the 
mountain ranges principaUy affecting chmate, many 
of the navigable rivers, numerous inland seas, vast 
productive plains, the principal sea ports, and all 
the largest cities of the continent. Between these 
parallels of latitude, enterprise has achieved its 
grandest successes. Arts and manufactures exist 
without number, railroads and canals look like a 
delicate net work spread over its eastern half, and 
with its hues of telegraph, it reahzes the perfect 
ideal of internal communication. Side by side with 
the mighty workshops of this 'region, stand the 
school, the college and the church. 

The resources of the district are almost infinite. 
Population clusters and grows dense here. Wealth 
flows into it. It is the great productive garden of 
the world, rich in lumber, grain, fruit and pasture 
for countless herds and flocks, while below the sur- 
face wealth, he inexhaustible treasures of gold and 
silver, copper, iron and coal." Such is the picture 
drawn by J. M. Wolfe, in his excellent work, and 
it is true in spirit and in letter. 

Nebraska has its place in the very heart of this 
region. "On the one side are the Eastern States 
with their manufactures and on the other, the 
Western Territories with their mineral wealth. To 
the north the forests of Minnesota, to the south the 
luxuriant semi-tropical fruits and other productions, 
while the State itself embraces fifty million acres 
of agricultural and pastoral lands, than which none 
on the face of the earth are richer. The surface of 
the country rises gradually from the Missouri till in 



270 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the west an elevation of five thousand feet is at- 
tained. Gently rolUng prairie, or broad level bottom 
lands are descriptive terms that will apply to all the 
sm-face of Nebraska." 

Three large streams traverse the State — the 
Platte, the Niobrara and the Eepublican. The 
Platte, running from east to west divides the State 
nearly equally. From the north and south at 
nearly equal distances, numerous tributaries flow 
through valleys of surpassing beauty and fertility, 
affording an ample supply of water for all the wants 
of art and agriculture. The soil is a rich vegetable 
mould from tw^o to six and even eight feet deep — 
the accumulation of centuries. Beneath this is a 
singular lacustrine deposit, referable to the period 
when a vast lake covered the area now included in 
the Western States and Territories. It forms about 
three fourths of the surface of the State of Nebraska 
and is exceedingly rich in all the elements of vege- 
table growth. It also obviates the ordinary results 
of drought and of long-continued rain ; as this sub- 
soil retains the surplus moisture and thus promotes 
thrifty vegetation; and this remarkable feature 
accounts for the good roads of Nebraska. In some 
instances the soil has been cropped for seventeen 
years without any indication of exhaustion and 
without the use of fertilizers. 

In climate, the Western Territories have an almost 
infinite advantage over the eastern States in the 
same latitude. For instance, during the winter of 
1871-2 the mean temperature during the months 
of December, January, February and March, at 
Helena, Montana, was 30 degrees— precisely the 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 27L 

same that it was at Philadelphia, which is six-and- 
a-half degrees further south, and four degrees 
higher than it was at Chicago, which is four-and-a- 
half degrees further south. As the reader is aware, 
the isotherms or lines of mean annual temperature 
do not correspond to the parallels of latitude. When 
we consider that Helena, which is on the mountains 
and almost a mile higher than New York or Phila- 
delphia has a more temperate climate than either 
of the latter places, we may realize the superior 
advantages of chmate of regions between the moun- 
tains and the Missouri river. 

The climate of this favored region is not to be 
determined by reference to latitude only, but the 
elevation of the country, the general inchnation of 
the surface, the rapid course of the rivers, and the 
absence of low swampy lands, are all to be taken 
into the account, and all combine in giving to Ne- 
braska an atmosphere, clear, bracing and dry, to 
moderate the inclemencies of winter and the heat 
of summer. The pure air of the prairie imparts 
new life and vigor to the invahd, and is delightful to 
persons in sound health. The spring often opens 
in February, and the autumn is protracted to the 
last days of the year. Cattle roam over these pleas- 
ant regions summer and winter without shelter, and 
find abundant sustenance upon the lands. 

Although Nebraska does not have as great a rain- 
faU in a year as most other regions in the same lati- 
tude, the average mean rainfall during April, May, 
June, July, August and September, is three-and-a- 
half inches — a greater quantity of rain during these 
agricultural months than Illinois, and little less than 



272 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

Missouri or Ohio. Snow seldom remains more than 
a few daj^s at a time. The productions of the soil 
are those common to the latitude, but in quantity 
and quality are abundant and excellent. At the 
Centennial, as many of our readers may remember, 
the fruit exhibition of Nebraska attracted much at- 
tention, and has doubtless told upon the emigration 
to the State. The supply of timber is not large, but 
is constantlyincreasing. Artificial groves are spring- 
ing up in every direction. The same varieties of 
forest trees are found in Nebraska as in Kansas. In 
Lincoln there are salt springs that yield abundantly. 
Nebraska is, perhaps, not favored with mineral 
wealth. Stone suitable for building purposes is 
found in many parts of the State, and is as beauti- 
ful as it is desirable. Much of the architectural 
beauty of the public buildings in Omaha and in Iowa 
is due to the magnesian hme-stone of Nebraska. 
There are eight or nine railroads in the State, and 
others wiU be constructed at an early day. The 
Union Pacific traverses the entire length of the 
State from east to west. 

The principal valleys south of the Platte are the 
Nemaha and Blue ; and in the North Platte country 
the Loup Fork and the Elkhorn vaUeys. The Elk- 
horn River rises south of the 42d parallel north lati- 
tude, and 200 miles west of the Missouri Kiver, and 
drains a country of at least ten thousand square 
miles. The valleys are very extensive and fertile 
— a paradise for large game. Elk, deer and antelope 
in large herds may be seen, and in the low hills the 
hunter finds a great variety of game in abundance. 
There are a number of promising towns and vil- 
lages in the beautiful Elkhorn Valley. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 273 

None who see the Platte Valley for the first time 
fail to admire its placid beauty. For six hundred 
miles, with a width varying from four to twelve 
miles, the valley extends in a westerly direction, 
gradually ascending tow^ard the base of the Rocky 
Mountains, everywhere beautiful with flowers, ver- 
dure, crops, natural and artificial groves, and resi- 
dences, continually bounded by bluffs whose out- 
hnes and shadows form ever- changing and enchant- 
ing pictures of which the eye never wearies. 

"Its direct course and unbroken surf ace made this 
valley the popular, indeed the only highway to the 
West, when stories of the wealth of the Pacific Coast 
and its mountain ranges, drove men mad with thirst 
for gold. But a few years ago, caravans of freight- 
ers and emigrants slowly toiled along over its grassy 
surface, or camped in its occasional groves, some to 
reap a golden harvest, others to fall before the 
mighty reaper and forget all their bright hopes. 
The Indians never could reconcile themselves to the 
unchallenged passage of the white men through 
their hunting grounds, driving away the buffalo, 
deer and antelope, and many a ruinous stampede, 
secret ambush and bloody fight lives in the memory 
of those times. But for the heroism of the man and 
women then, these Western States and Territories 
would still be the home of the wild beast and still 
wilder savage. 

No less interesting is this valley, as an illustration 
oi the way in which the surface of a part of the 
world was made habitable, an4 the tremendous 
agencies by which it was accomphshed. Standing 
upon its bluffs, the story is to be read in characters 

18 



274 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

almost as clear cut as if the achievement was of yes- 
terday. A lake, oceanic in size, is slowly drained of 
its waters. These become, in different directions, 
mighty, turbulent rivers which cut their way down 
through hundreds of feet of deposit, forming in their 
subsidence, terraces of various widths, till at last, 
like the one before us, they roll their shallow wat- 
ers over beds of sand, wandering from side to side 
of their valleys, touching alternately, with gentle 
ripples, the opposite bluffs, whose tops were once 
swept by their proud and resistless waves. It has 
been estimated that in the formation of the Platte 
Yalley an area of 2000 square miles of sediment 1000 
feet thick, has been carved out and carried away by 
the tremendous forces at work in some far remote 
period. The process finished, and a soil wasproduced, 
deep, mellow^ and warm, free from every impediment 
to the plow, rich in every element essential to the 
life of plant and tree, and yielding a hundred-fold in 
return for cultivation. 

Kearney, the county seat of Buffalo county, is the 
junction of the Burlington and Missouri and the St. 
Joseph and Denver railroads, with the Union Paci- 
fic. Old Fort Kearney is now dismantled and the 
reservation will soon be devoted to settlement and 
cultivation. The route from this point to the Black 
Hills is described as direct, easy and well supplied 
with grass, wood and water. The site upon which 
Kearney is built slopes toward the valley of the 
Platte, which can be seen for miles, threading its 
way through groves and pastures, watering a charm- 
ing region embraced in seven counties. Believing 
that sooner or later the State and National capitals 




PALACE BUTTE, COL. 
Palace Bntte rises in an almost dome-sliapea mass from a blank wall on whosn 

rock forprotecUon. ^ "''^^^ "''^*"" °^ '"M'°^-*' ^^^^ ^^'^'^ ^ "Ung to the 



276 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

will be removed, the one from Lincoln to a more 
-central part of the State, and the other from the 
Atlantic seaboard to the very heart of this great 
Union, the people of Kearney have laid off magnifi- 
cent sites for the necessary buildings, when this 
change shall have occurred, and travelers are in- 
vited to look with more than passing interest, upon 
a spot solemnly dedicated as the seat of Govern- 
ment in the future, and picture the transformation 
by which the prairie will be converted into spacious 
avenues and streets lined with palatial buildings, a 
city bristhng with towers and spires, and crowning 
all, the marble halls of legislation. 

With this brief sketch of Nebraska, its present 
distinction and grand probabihties in the near fu- 
ture, we resume our narrative. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 277 



CHAPTEK XVII. 

The Great Sand-Banks — Wild Animals — A Bear Hunt — The "Bad 
Lands " of Dakota— The Wonderful Valley — A Night's Experience — The 
Black Hills — ^Harney's Peak — An Enchanting View from the Summit — 
Bridger, the Noted Trapper — His Adventures — Wonderful Cave — 
Diversity of Scenery Along the River. 

Toward night, we crossed the Niobrara and en- 
camped on its southern bank. The next morning 
we rode a few miles to the southward and saw the 
sand-banks, rising from the plain hke snow-di-ifts, 
and extending for a distance of many miles, in ap- 
pearance resembling the foam-capped waves of the 
sea. This region of sand lies between the Snake 
and Niobrara rivers on the usual route from Kearn- 
ey to the Black Hills, and is in strange contrast to 
the fertile and charming country through which 
we have passed. 

Eeturning down the right bank of the Niobrara, 
we passed through a large "village" of prairie dogs. 
These interesting little animals burrow in the earth, 
and their villages sometimes cover thousands of 
acres. They sit around the entrances to their 
dwellings, and on the least alarm they utter a pe- 
culiar cry or bark and instantly disappear. The 
wild animals of this region are the buffalo, elk, deer, 
antelope, prairie wolf or coyote, black bear, black 
wolf and panther. The black wolf, which is seldom 
seen, is a very fierce and dangerous animal, but the 
coyote of the plains is exceedingly cowardly. 

We camped one more night on the south bank of 



278 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the Niobrara, and the next evening, after a hard day's 
ride, arrived in safety at the steamer. We found 
the bank of the river in the vicinity of the boat, 
thronged with Sioux Indians, all eager for barter. 
The repairs were still going on, and w^e were there- 
fore compelled to remain here a little longer. 

The next morning, a young Indian announced that 
he had seen an old bear and cub on the bluff of a 
small creek on the opposite side of the river. Sev- 
eral of the party proceeded at once to the place for 
the purpose of securing the game. Reaching the 
mouth of the creek, they advanced for a hundred 
yards or more, then hastily clambering up the bluff, 
they soon found the cub in a recess of the rocks, but 
the dam was not to be seen. By means of a rope 
they secured the cub without difficulty, but when 
they dragged it dow^n the chff, the young bear made 
a noisy protest, and as the men entered the boat 
with their prize, they discovered the old bear bound- 
ing down the cliff. Just at the mouth of the creek a 
large rock projected over the water, and toward this 
point the bear advanced. Several shots were fired 
at her, but without great effect, and an attempt 
was made to run the blockade ; but at the moment 
of reaching the river, the bear sprang from the ex- 
treme point of the rock directly into the boat. The 
celerity with which the gentlemen vacated the 
premises was really astonishing, and extremely lu- 
dicrous to persons in a less perilous position. The 
boat had acquired sufficient headway to carry it out 
into the current, and with the animals in it, drifted 
down the stream, while the discomfited men made 
their way along the opposite bank. Another boat 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 279 

succeeded, by an ingenious device, in towing the 
bear-barge to the shore, where, after no httle dif- 
ficulty, the animals were killed,— an entirely novel 
mode of bear hunting. 

Leaving the mouth of the Niobrara, we proceeded 
on our course. Several forts are located at various 
points on the Missouri, but they generally present 
but Httle interest for tourists. 

Having made the distance of 150 miles above the 
confluence of the Niobrara with the Missouri, we 
arrived at the White Eiver, which is nearly a quar- 
ter of a mile in width at its mouth. Its length is 
about 500 miles. Between the head waters of this 
river and the Black Hills, the famous Mauvaises 
Terres are located. This wonderful valley, usually 
called the "bad lands," is a natural sink, about 
twenty-five or thirty miles wide and about seventy- 
:five miles long. From the open prairie on the 
south, the tourist descends a gentle decHvity to the 
bottom of the valley, w^hich is from 150 to 250 feet 
below the level of the prairie. A pecuhar sensation, 
perhaps akin to that experienced by a visitor to the 
catacombs of some ancient city, is felt the mo- 
ment the traveler steps upon the sterile ground. 
No vegetation is seen, except a very scanty growth 
of wiry grass that never exceeds a few inches in 
height. No sound of life is audible, but an oppres- 
sive silence pervades the dismal solitude. Immense 
rocks of a basaltic character are distributed over the 
entire area, and the w^onderful and fantastic shapes 
they assume give the appearance of a ruined, an- 
cient city. Sometimes they seem gigantic castles, 
with walls and moats and battlements and towers ; 



280 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

again they rise in immense columns two hundred 
feet in height. Dome-shaped pyramids, irregular 
shafts and massive towers rise before you at every 
step — taleless monuments of an age of mystery. 
Fossil remains of gigantic pachyderma — non-rumi- 
nant mammals — now extinct, are seen in hoUows- 
of the desolate earth, while bones of existing species- 
are scattered around and lie bleaching upon th& 
surface. 

The rocks that loom up so grandly and in such 
various shapes from the bed of the valley, often rise 
above the level of the surrounding plain. This 
wonderful locahty has the appearance of having^ 
once been the bed of a vast lake, or of an under- 
ground labyrinth, with endless mazes of fathomless, 
intricacy, from which the covering has been re- 
moved, and the entire net-work of mysterious wind- 
ings revealed to the sight of astonished man. 
Fancy renders these realms the catacombs of some- 
ancient city, the walls of which have long since- 
been obliterated by the hand of time. 

The numerous extensive ruins of New Mexico,. 
Arizona, and other portions of the West, attest the- 
fact that all our great western plains and prairies 
were once the homes of millions of human beings, 
and here, perhaps, was their great metropolis. 
Here, in their great city, with its golden spires 
reaching to the skies, this people, in their arrogance 
and pride, dared profane the name of God, and His 
curse fell upon them; the fire-fiend reigned in their 
dwellings, or their proud walls crumbled at the 
earthquake's shock. Such fancies seize upon the 
wanderer over this silent, weird, wonderful and deso- 
late region. 

\ 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 281 

We encamped one night in this remarkable val- 
ley, and were the unwilling witnesses of a natural 
phenomenon fully in keeping with the general as- 
pect of the place. Having spread our blankets ai 
the foot of a tall pyramid, we laid down to sleep. 
The night was intensely dark, and we were destitute 
of the means of kindhng a fire ; the Ught of the stars 
was obscured by great ominous clouds, that rose in 
the southwest and spread out over the heavens like- 
a pall. The wind sighed mournfully and whistled 
and shrieked among the towering shafts. Soon a, 
low, rumbling sound, away to the south, gave indica- 
tions of an approaching storm. 

The darkness seemed to increase; and wailing 
sounds, at first in low, plaintive tones, and then 
swelling to piercing shrieks, fell with awful distinct- 
ness upon our ears. Our position was not altogether 
agreeable or comfortable, but there was no more 
hope of safety in flight than in remaining where we 
were. The wind increased to a hurricane, and blue 
lights danced around us in the darkness, and seemed 
to menace us with fingers of flame. It seemed as if 
all the furies had been loosened upon the earth, and 
that we were the objects of their special attention. 
Lightnings flashed, thunders roared and volumes of 
sand were raised from the earth and dashed down 
upon us with terrible effect, filling our eyes, mouths 
and nostrils with a noxious, suffocating dust. Draw- 
ing our blankets over our heads, we waited as pa- 
tiently as possible for the storm to subside. Soon 
the wind ceased and with its cessation, the dust; 
the tumult was over, the storm was past ; the clouds 
vanished ; the stars shone as brightly, and all was as^ 
quiet as ever. 



"282 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

A recent work upon the agricultural resources of 
the West says, that the whole space w^est of the 
95th degree of longitude, embracing half of the entire 
surface of the United States, is an arid, desolate 
waste, with the exception of a narrow belt of rich 
lands along the Pacific coast. And this writer is 
an American, who expects, doubtless, to be credited 
with knowledge of his subject and with veracity. 
That he is utterly mistaken is well attested. My 
owTi observations corroborated by the statements of 
other explorers, warrant the assertion that the whole 
extensive region north of the 40th degree of latitude, 
■and lying betw^een the Missouri Kiver and the Kocky 
Mountains, excepting the sand plains of Nebraska 
and the "bad lands" of Dakota, of limited area, as 
already described, is better adapted to agricultural 
purposes than is the corresponding region lying be- ' 
tween the Missouri Kiver and the great lakes. 

While the little steamer plied her way around the 
magnificent bends of the Missouri, to await our ar- 
rival at the mouth of the Cheyenne Eiver, the party 
proceeded across the fertile belt of beautiful country, 
lying between the Mauvaises Terres and the Black 
Hills. We traveled in a northwesterly direction, 
and were far out upon the prairies, when one of our 
number called attention to a large herd of antelopes. 
We looked in the direction indicated, and directly 
in our course, we saw thousands of the beautiful 
creatures feeding upon the grass and moving about 
the prairie with graceful freedom. We continued 
■on our way, watching the herd until we were within 
half a mile of them, when, instantly, and in the 
most mysterious manner, the whole herd vanished ; 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 283 

not one was to be seen, altliongh but a moment be- 
fore, the herd had covered thousands of acres. By 
the aid of our field glass we beheld only an exten- 
sive village of prairie dogs, which, by the phenomo- 
non of the mirage, had been magnified into an in- 
numerable herd of antelopes. Such phenomena are 
of frequent occurrence in the West, and many thrill- 
ing instances have been related by frontiersmen — 
sometimes of extreme suffering and loss of hfe, oc- 
casioned by the mirage. 

Crossing the south fork of the Cheyenne Eiver, 
we entered the Black Hills, from the south, about 
fifty miles west of Harney's Peak — the highest point 
in the region. These hills were formerly supposed 
to be an extensive mountain desert. A late writer 
says: "The extensive region known as the Black 
Hills, lying mostly in Dakota, but extending into 
Wyoming, is likely to prove greatly productive of 
gold, and is certainly rich in timber and general ag- 
ricultural resources." 

In general appearance, we find here a marked re- 
semblance to the Osage country of Missouri, except 
that instead of the sparsely timbered region of the 
Osage, we have here extensive forests of the most 
valuable timber. Fir, pine, cedar, and many of the 
hard woods are exceedingly abundant. The soil is 
of great depth and unsurpassed fertility, and the 
chmate, as already remarked, is singularly health- 
ful. The general direction of the range is from 
southwest to northeast, and it embraces about six 
thousand square miles of territory. It is reported 
that rich deposits of gold underlie the w^estern part 
of the range which extends into Wyoming, though 



284 LLFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEBICA, 

at the time of our^dsit there, miners had been pros- 
pecting for some time without great success. Gold 
had been found, but not in sufficient quantities to 
encourage mining, and the whole country being in- 
cluded in the reservation of the Sioux Indians, who 
persistently resist any encroachment upon their ter- 
ritory, miners generally do not care to risk their 
scalps for the small amount of filthy lucre they 
might expect, under some conditions, to obtain. It 
is probable, however, that an improved system of 
mining, under the encouragement of government 
countenance and protection, would develop as rich 
mining regions here as are found in Montana or 
other sections of the great northwest. 

Passing eastward along the southern extremity of 
the hills, we came to Bridgers' Spring, where the 
water gushes in great force from the hmestone rock 
that rises abruptly at the terminus of a deep glen. 
From a perpendicular ledge, fully seventy-five feet- 
high, the water pours from an aperture in the rock, 
about six inches in diameter and thirteen feet from 
the ground. The stream spouts with such force 
that it falls into a basin fifteen feet from the wall. 
Bridgers, a noted trapper of this region, had estab- 
lished his camp a few^ hundred yards from the spring, 
and "fool like," as he expressed it, went one morn- 
ing to the place for a bath, without taking his gun. 
After he had refreshed himself at the pure fountain 
and turned to depart, he was astonished to find 
himself face to face with two stalwart Indians, who, 
hke himself, were unarmed. It became apparent 
to Bridgers that there was to be a hand-tcT-hand 
struggle for life, and taking advantage of the sur- 
prise of the two Indians, he sprang with the force- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 285 

■ and ferocity of a tiger upon the foremost and sent 
him reeling to the earth, from which he never rose. 
The second Indian was a more powerful antagonist, 
and Bridgers describes the struggle as the "most 
interesting" he was ever engaged in. The second 
gladiator was sent to join his comrade in the "happy 
hunting grounds" over the river Styx. 

At the foot of Harney's Peak we came to Bridg- 
ers 's Cave, the entrance to which is through a trap- 
like opening in the top of a large rock that looks 
hke the "blossom" of iron ore. Descending about 
twenty-five feet, we reached the floor of the cavern. 
Here, by the hght of torches, we found a room of 
immense extent. The roof of the cave was about 
ten feet above us, and composed wholly of quartz 
rock. In the hght of our torches it sparkled hke 
myriads of diamonds. Following a branch of the 
cave, leading to the south west, we found another 
passage connecting with the outer world. In this 
part of the cave, Bridgers, in passing through, came 
suddenly upon a large bear ; the animal paused for a 
moment directly in the path, uttering a deep growl 
that echoed through the passages tiU the cavern 
seemed the abode of hundreds of wild beasts growl- 
ing in concert. It was not an agreeable position 
even to a man with iron nerves, but Bridgers was 
equal to the occasion, although armed only with a 
hunting knife. Escape by flight was out of the 
question, and the trapper thinking to frighten the 
animal from his position, began a solo of yeUs that 
would have done credit to a whole band of Sioux, 
the while leaping about and brandishing his flaming 
torch in the wildest manner. Whoever has heard 



286 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Forest in Metamora, or ever heard a band of savages- 
rushing to a conflict, can imagine the vocal exer- 
cises of Bridgers on this occasion. His performance 
was a success, and the bear quitted the cave like a 
whipped cur. 

Turning to the south, at a distance of a hundred 
yards, the walls of the cave were so contracted that 
with difficulty we passed along an avenue, leading 
into a spacious chamber, named the "Dome," from 
the beautiful arched shape of the ceihng, which 
rises in the centre to the height of fifty feet. The 
beautiful crystals of quartz that everywhere project 
from the walls in triangular shapes, reflecting as 
they do, the hues of the rainbow, constitute a scene 
of magnificence, far exceeding the adornment of pa- 
lace or cathedral. Leaving the "Dome," we turned 
to the right and entered a passage that led us into 
another beautiful room — "The Chamber of the Foun- 
tain" — circular in form, and about forty feet in 
diameter. In the centre of the fioor is a depression 
or basin, about eight feet in diameter, in which there 
is a clear and cool fountain. 

Returning to the entrance, we visited the home 
of Bridgers. It is a room about eighteen feet in 
diameter, and remarkable chiefly for the vast quan- 
tity of furs and skins of wild animals that are stored 
within it. 

The trapping season begins in the month of Sep- 
tember and continues through all the months that 
contain the letter " r," though furs taken in mid- 
summer are said to be superior in quality. As soon 
as the season for trapping ends, the trapper on the 
Missouri and its tributaries begins to construct his 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 287 

raft, upon which he usually transports his furs to a 
suitable market — that he may have it in readiness to 
launch upon the first favorable rise in the waters, 
which usually occurs about the first of June. 

Leaving Bridgers sole monarch of an extensive 
region west of Harney's Peak, we wended our way 
to the very foot of the grandly picturesque pile that 
rears its proud summit to the regions of cloud-land. 
Finding a suitable grazing place for our horses, we 
then began the toilsome ascent of Harney's Peak. 
Upward we went, w^inding our way carefully around 
numerous projecting crags, climbing cautiously 
over heaps of fragmentary rocks, or clinging to 
some stunted cedar that had dared to maintain its 
existence in this exalted position, despite the bar- 
renness of the rocks upon which it had established 
itself, and the general war of the elements that is 
continually waged against it. Finally, w^e reached 
the summit, and the first glance of the grand and 
delightful panorama that was spread out before us 
repaid us a thousand fold for all the fatigue of 
the journey. North of our position and covered 
with stately forests, the low hills extend in an end- 
less succession until they are lost in the blue sky ; 
while here and there a towering peak rears its crest 
defiantly, the gray summit in striking contrast to 
the dark green of the forests below. Eastward, the 
South Fork winds its tortuous course, appearing 
and disappearing among the tall trees that fringe 
its banks, coursing through chasms and canons of 
vast depth, and steadfastly onward till it finally 
unites with the broad Missouri. Southward, the 
dark green fohage of the timber land gives place to 



'288 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the lighter hue of the grand prairie, which rolls 
away in gentle undulations to the setting sun — a 
limitless field of perennial verdure and beauty. In 
the centre of this expansive meadow, the dark vale 
of the Mauvaises Terres is seen, silent and desolate 
hke the shadow of a dark cloud. Moses on Mount 
Nebo, with his eyes resting upon the paradise of 
the Hebrew^s, did not look upon a land more beauti- 
ful, a scene more enchanting, than that watliin the 
scope of our vision. Beautiful land of Dakota, 
which will yet be the delightful home of millions of 
freemen ! 

Without accident we accomplished the perilous 
descent, and after spending another day in the vi- 
cinity of the lofty Peak, took up our line of march 
towards the East. Recrossing the South Fork, we 
follow^ed the course of the Cheyenne river, which, a 
large portion of the way, led through a fertile and 
beautiful valley, until we reached the bank of the 
broad and rapid waters of the Missouri, and again 
•embarked in the brave little steamer that, after 
panting hard to reach the designated point, arrived 
almost at the hour we reached the river. 

The waters of the Missouri become less muddy as 
we ascend the stream, till finally they become as 
■clear as Lake Superior, and the tiniest fish may be 
seen swimming in the depths below. 

Moving on up the river, we pass the mouths of 
several smaller streams, when our course deviates 
from a northern direction, and we begin to swing 
gradually around to the west. This point in the 
river is known as the "Great Southwestern Bend." 
There are several forts located in this region, at one 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 

of which our Kansas friends, Messrs. Lawrence and 
Forristall, landed ; but after transacting the busi- 
ness upon which they came, rejoined our party. 

There is a great diversity of scenery on the banks 
of the Upper Missouri. As we move smoothly 
along on the bosom of the great river, the scene is 
one continual dissolving view. Prairie and forest, 
forest and cliff, and cascades in tributary streams, 
succeed each other. In one place, we see an Indian 
peering cautiously over the tall cliff that overhangs 
the river; in another, we descry a large band of In- 
dians on the open prairie, performing their daring 
feats on horse-back; occasionally we get a ghmpse 
of a gigantic elk in the timber, or a large bear mov- 
ing lazily out of the water and toward the thick un- 
derbrush ; herds of deer are frequently seen upon 
the high, verdure-crowned banks, gazing with won- 
der-eyes upon the approaching steamer ; large flocks 
of birds, perched upon the huge hmb of a grand old 
forest tree, that offer a ready target for the sports- 
man, are often seen; and here and there, by day or 
night, the scene is either novel or sublime. 

We are nearing the western boundary of Dakota, 
that attractive region of which the reader expects a 
more extended notice, and that demand I wiUtry to 
answer. 



19 



290 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Dakota — The Red River Country — Large Farms — The Dakota System 
of Farming — The Lumber Interests — Bismark — Emigration. 

Until within a few years little was known of 
the resources or general character of the Territory 
of Dakota, and it was regarded as uninhabitable; 
but of all our Territories there is none that offers 
greater inducements to settlers than this. It is 
more than three times as large as New York, and 
about four times the area of Ohio, embracing 150,932 
square miles, being nearly 400 miles square, and hav- 
ing more acres of arable land than any other State 
in the Union, except, possibly Texas. It extends 
from the Eed River — the western boundary of Min- 
nesota — on the east, to the confluence of the Yellow- 
stone and Missouri on the west — from the 97th to 
the 104th degrees, west longitude ; and from the 
British Possessions on the north, to Nebraska on the 
south. 

The course of the Eed Eiver from Traverse Lake 
in Dakota, to Lake Winnipeg, is almost due north. 
There are a dozen large rivers and their tributaries, 
and several small lakes in the Territory. The only 
mountains are the Black Hills, in the southwestern 
part. 

Dakota is emphatically an agricultural region of 
unsurpassed fertihty, and the extent to which this 
industry is carried on would astonish a New Eng- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 291 

lander. As the reader is aware, the Northern Pa- 
cific Eaihoad traverses this wonderfully productive 
Territory. The great staple of the region through 
which the railroad extends, as, indeed, of the 
entire Territory so far as it has been settled, is 
wheat. In 1879, one single wheat-field, not far from 
the Missouri Eiver, embraced an area of twenty 
thousand acres and yielded two hundred thousand 
bushels of wheat. A farm thirteen miles from Bis- 
mark contained 12,000 acres, of which 1,500 were- 
under cultivation ; another contained 7,000 acres, of 
which 1,100 were improved, and the hst might be 
continued. Large farms here seem to be quite th& 
fashion. Bishop Peck, in speaking of the resources 
of the Territory, says : " Imagine a vast plain, some- 
what undulating, yourseh in the midst of it, and 
splendid farms and unbroken farming lands extend- 
ing to the horizon in all directions, and then think 
two thousand miles on beyond — nearly every acre 
sandy loam, vegetable mold or aUu^dal deposit, from 
two to six feet deep, the greater proportion of the 
whole richer and finer than the gardens of the East, 
and you wiU have some idea of the productiveness 
of the Northwest." 

The very large farms are an evil. They have gen- 
erally been obtained by railroad bonds in the hands 
of sharp-eyed parties when the Northern Pacific 
suspended. The large and increasing number of 
smaU farms — from 160 to 5,000 acres — are more 
hopeful as to population, bringing into neighbor- 
hood the large immigration and advancing aU the 
forms of civihzation— the great hope of the country; 
while the magnates on the ten, twenty and thirty 



292 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

thousand acres will imitate the manorial greatness 
of the old world, demonstrate on a grand scale the 
capabilities of the soil, and for a generation hold 
large control over the social and civil interests of 
the country. In the days of their early descend- 
ants these vast estates will be broken up and por- 
tioned off, for the good of the greatest number. 
A writer in Harper's, says of this vast Territory: 
■"In 1869 we rode over this former hunting ground 
of the Sioux, where, through by-gone ages, they 
chased the buffalo and fought the Chippewas. The 
valley of the Red River was a vast expanse. No 
hill, no undulation, nothing but the fringes of trees 
along the streams, bounded the sight. It was a 
reach of prairie unbroken by the plow. The song of 
meadow lark, plover and curlew and other fowl, 
alone broke the solemn and oppressive stillness of 
the solitude. At Georgetown, the Hudson Bay 
Company, had erected a house, and two or three 
settlers had set up their cabins on the banks of the 
river. Now the locomotive is speeding its way 
across the Valley on to the Missouri, and beyond to 
the Yellowstone, down the valley to Winnipeg, and 
soon it will thunder far away in the distant north- 
land. Farm-houses dot the landscape, to\NTis have 
sprung up, and marvelous the change; in 1869 a 
furrowless plain, in 1879 a harvest of eight million 
bushels of grain. In Dakota, a farmer may mount 
his sulky plow, ride till noon, if his acres extend so 
far, and reach home at night, with a returning fur- 
row. When we reflect that the Red River Valley 
alone, if under complete cultivation, has a capacity 
for the production of five hundred millions bushels 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 29B 

of grain, what may we not predict of the capacities 
of this summer wheat-field, equal in area to the 
States of the Union east of the Mississippi." 

Farming is carried on very difi^erently in Dakota 
from the manner practiced in the Eastern States. 
Instead of one team with a single plow, the Dakota 
farmer calls in requisition 15 or 20 gang plows with 
powerful teams, managed by a man riding on a sulky, 
with furrows so wide, taken altogether, that he 
would plow an area equal to an entire farm, of the 
Eastern pattern, every day, and a tract equal to the 
entire State of Rhode Island, were its 1,300 square 
miles of surface all arable land, in less time than the 
New England farmer requires to plow his little 
farm. Ten to twenty teams follow each other 
around a field of wheat, drawing reaping machines, 
which cut an immense swath, binding every straw 
as they go, and pushing bundles off from each ma- 
chine so fast that you cannot count them. Thresh- 
ing and cleaning are equally wonderful. Large ma- 
chines are worked by steam, and the straw is used 
for fuel — the machine pulling it in and feeding the 
flame with its own fingers — while the pure wheat 
rolls out so fast that you can hardly put it into 
sacks, when it is moved oft' to market in bulk. 

The valuation of the machinery employed in this 
region amounts to millions of dollars annually, and 
wiU continue to increase with the growth of the 
country. Its manufacture adds to the wealth of 
the East, for the greater part of it is made there. 

The reports of starvation in foreign countries are 
in strange contrast with the facts and figures con- 
cerning the abundance with which the wheat fields 
of Dakota are crowned. 



294 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

It will be interesting to note the destination of 
all this wealth of grain. In Minneapolis, Minn., 
alone, as it appears from the statistics, there are 
twenty-two mills that grind from 13,000 to 15,000 
barrels of flour every day, requiring about eight 
millions bushels of wheat per year. When the mills, 
now in process of completion — perhaps in 1880, and 
surely before the winter of 1881 — not less than twelve 
millions bushels of wheat per year will be made into 
flour in that city alone. There are now five hundred 
miles of direct line of railroad, from Duluth, on Lake 
Superior, to Bismark, Dakota, with great and ex- 
tending branches added, and in September and 
October the trains are hterally burdened with wheat, 
eastward bound, with markets in Chicago, Cincin- 
nati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Buffalo, New York 
and Europe. It is now but eighteen days from Min- 
neapolis to Liverpool, and when the canal is com- 
pleted, ships for the old world wiU be loaded from 
the wharves of Chicago. This grand result must 
come within five years, as must also the completion 
of the Northern Pacific Railroad, to Puget Sound, 
bringing the vast tonnage of the North Pacific 
Ocean from Asia directly across our northwest. 

The grazing lands of Dakota are unsurpassed. 
Vast herds of cattle graze here, even during the 
winter, and all herders have to do is to "back fire," 
so that the grass, which dries and becomes like hay, 
will not be destroyed. 

Lumber from the forests of the North is bringing 
millions of dollars into this great and promising 
Territory. The grand Falls of St. Anthony, Minn., 
utihzed as a water power, gave in 1878, the enormous 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 295 

quantity of 130,275,000 feet of lumber ; and this is 
annually increasing. The upper Mississippi and 
other rivers are literally crowded with logs, feeding 
other mills, and making an estimate of the lumber 
trade of the Northwest incalculably large. 

AU other industries are prosperous and achieving 
the grandest results, and it may be safely predicted 
that, within the next decade, Dakota will be as popu- 
lous as is Kansas to-day. 

Prominent among the towns and settlements of 
Dakota is Bismark — the germ of a great city in the 
near future. It is beautifully situated on the east 
bank of the Missouri, and was for a time noted as 
the temporary western terminus of the Northern 
Pacific Eailroad, which is now being rapidly ex- 
tended westward. The history of Bismark begun 
with the completion of the road to this point in 1873. 
It is already of importance and wiU doubtless be the 
great city on this great national highway, and the 
terminus of one or two other great lines of railway 
from the northwest ; it is also safe to predict that it 
^ill be the capital of the northern division of the 
Territory, when it is divided on an east and west 
line, which is being advocated by different sections 
of the Territory. 

It is a fact, perhaps not generally known, that the 
Missouri river is navigable for twelve hundred 
miles above this point ; there w^ere in 1879 not less 
than 25 steamers of the capacity of from 350 to 
1200 tons, engaged in the river trade. 

The growth and prosperity of Bismark have been 
marked and peculiar. The principal source of its 
commercial prosperity has been the very extensive 



296 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

overland and river business from here to the Black 
Hills, and to the several military posts and Indian 
agencies west and north. 

Although situated in the midst of a most fertile 
agricultural region, little was attempted in the way 
of cultivation of crops until 1879, as other depart- 
ments of industry, trade and enterprise were highly 
remunerative, but the influx of emigration will 
within a year or two, at longest, cause the fertile 
fields adjacent to yield abundantly their wealth of 
produce. Bismark has a population of about 3,000. 

Statistics show a continued increase in the num- 
ber of British subjects arriving in this country. 
Fully one-third of the number are from Canada, 
and another third from England, where there has 
been a general prostration of agricultural industries. 
Nearly all immigrants from Great Britain bring 
money to purchase land, and are coming in colonies 
prepared to start thriving communities in the West, 
on the public lands. Naturally enough, they go to 
the Northwest, Dakota and Minnesota receiving the 
majority of them. Of the immigration from Great 
Britain, but a very small per centage remain in the 
East or in cities. 

The immigration to the United States, in 1880, 
will approximate 250,(XK) — landing in the City of 
New York. It is especially stimulated by the des- 
titution in Ireland. The German military conscrip- 
tion operates, in like manner, to create discontent at 
home and longings for the free, broad acres of the 
new world. 

Of course, at the present time, the Territory of 
Dakota is sparsely populated. It is said that a 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 297 

gentleman not long since made a considerable jour- 
ney across the prairies of Dakota, and met only one 
man on the whole trip ; and this man said he was 
"just stepping over " to his neighbor's farm, to make 
a friendly call. The closest observation with a field 
glass of great power could not reveal the outlines 
of a house anywhere, and, to the question how long 
he intended to keep "stepping" before he reached 
his neighbor's place, the answer was — "Well, I am 
most there now, I've only six miles to go yet, but 
last spring we had'nt any very near neighbors." 

Over this region of country, extending as far to 
the North as Athabasca Lake, large enough for ten 
or twelve States the size of New York, Nature has 
given a climate suited to the culture of summer 
wheat. There are vast reaches which in coming 
years will furnish rich pasturage to flocks and herds, 
as they now do to the buffalo. It is a region from 
which the buffalo never departs ; it is his summer and 
winter haunt. Where buffaloes can find pasturage, 
men can hve and carry on successful husbandry. 
Although the winters of Dakota are as cold as in 
Central New York, there is far less snow. By the 
middle of March or the first week in April, the 
ground has thawed sufficiently to permit farming. 
Since the first furrow was turned in the Eed Eiver 
Valley in 1870, there has been no failure of crops 
from drought, rains, blight, mildew, or rust. The 
region is one of the fairest on the continent. 



"298 LIFE IN THE WILDS OP AMERICA, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Upper Mississippi — Natural Sceneiy of Minnesota — Beautiful Lakes 
and Elvers — Climate — Chief Cities — Wisconsin — Features of the 
Country — Wonderful Earth Mounds — A Visit to the State Capital 
and other Cities — A Scrap of History. 

Crossing the Red River, the traveler enters Min- 
nesota, which has an area of 83,531 square miles. 
The State is centrally located midway between 
the North and South Poles, midway between Hud- 
son Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and midway be- 
tween the coast ranges of the Atlantic and Pacific, 
and on the height of land of the continent. From 
Minnesota descend three water-sheds — from the 
north, the Red River system ; from the south, the 
Mississippi and Missouri ; and from the east, the St. 
Lawrence system. The soil is porous, and moisture 
is quickly absorbed. The land is rolling, presenting 
a natural drainage. The State is so far from the 
Atlantic that the east winds scarcely reach it, 
while the warm winds of the Pacific, deprived of their 
moisture by the Rocky Mountains, give it an early 
spring, with but little moisture. It has but 25j 
inches, during the year, in the form of rain or snow, 
with healthful influences all around. There is no 
spot in the State especially favored, but for hundreds 
of miles west of the Mississippi River the invalid 
will find an immunity from Consumption. 

During the winter, in Minnesota, the thermome- 
ter often ranges from 18 to 20 degrees below zero. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 299 

but no such intensity of cold is felt, so dry and pure 
is the atmosphere. Persons who would not think 
of walking out in their native states with the ther- 
mometer at zero, go abroad with impunity, in this 
chmate, with the mercury fifteen or twenty below. 
In fact the State has a pecuhar chmate, differing, 
in some respects, from that of any other part of the 
continent. 

The surface of the country is diversified with roll- 
ing prairies, vast belts of timber, oak openings, 
meadows, waterfalls, wooded ravines and lofty bluffs, 
which impart variety, grandeur and picturesque 
beauty to the scenery. The Mississippi Eiver rises 
in Lake Itasca, a very small body of water in the 
northern part of Minnesota and flows south-easterly 
through the State 797 miles, 134 of which forms its 
■eastern boundary. It is navigable for large boats to 
St. Paul and above the Falls of St. Anthpny for 
smaller boats, for a considerable distance. The 
season of navigation usually opens about the middle 
of April, and closes about the middle of November. 
The river not unfrequently remains open till the 
first of December. 

The Minnesota River, the source of which is 
among the Coteau des Prairies, in Dakota, flows 
from Big Stone Lake, on the western boundary of 
the State, a distance of nearly 500 miles through the 
heart of the southwestern part of the State, and 
empties into the Mississippi at Fort Snelling, five 
nailes above St. Paul. It is navigable, at high 
stages of water, to the Yellow Medicine, 238 miles 
above its mouth. The St. Croix River, rising in 
Wisconsin, near Lake Superior, forms a part of the 



300 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

eastern boundary of the State. It flows into the- 
Mississippi nearly opposite Hastings, and is naviga- 
ble to Taylor's Falls, about 50 miles. It penetrates 
the pineries and furnishes immense water-power 
along its course. The Bed River is navigable from 
Breckenridge, at the mouth of the Bois de Sioux 
River, to Hudson's Bay; the Saskatchew^an, a tribu- 
tary of the Red River, is also navigable, thus prom- 
ising an active commercial trade from this vast re- 
gion, W'hen it shall have become settled, via the St. 
Paul and Pacific railroad, which connects the navi- 
gable waters of the Red River with those of the 
Mississippi. 

Among the more important of the almost innumer- 
able small streams are Rum River, valuable for lum- 
bering, Vermilion River which is full of the most 
beautiful cascades; the Crow, Blue Earth, Root, 
Sauk,LeSueur, Zumbro, Cottonwood, Long Prairie, 
Redwood, Warajou, Pejuta Ziza, Mauja, Wakau, 
Buffalo, Wild Rice, Plum, Sand Hill, Clearwater, 
Red Lake, Black Thief, Red Cedar and Des Moines 
Rivers. There are more Indian names of rivers, 
lakes and towns in Minnesota than in any other 
State in the Union. The St. Louis River, a large 
stream flowing into Lake Superior, navigable for 
twenty miles from its lake outlet, furnishes a water 
power at its falls which is said to equal that of the 
falls of the Mississijipi at St. Anthony. 

Lake Superior extends along the eastern boun- 
dary of the State for a distance of about 170 miles. 
It is indented with many beautiful harbors. 

The mineral w^ealth of the State is chiefly copper, 
iron and coal. The soil is well adapted to agricul- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 301 

tiiral pursuits. It is of a dark, calcareous, sandy 
loam, containing an intermixture of clay, abound- 
ing in mineral salts and in ingredients derived from 
ijhe accumulation of decomposed vegetable matter, 
for long ages of growth and decay. 

The word " Minnesota " signifies, in the Indian 
tongue, "sky-tinted water." In 1689, the French 
took possession of the country and erected a fort 
on the shore of Lake Pepin. "In 1695 a second 
fort was built on an island in the Mississippi just 
below the mouth of the St. Croix; another fort was 
built on the Minnesota the following year. The 
fur traders now came into the Territory in great 
numbers, but no permanent settlement was made. 
In 1763 Capt. Carver of Connecticut, visited Min- 
nesota and published a description of the country. 
In 1800 that part of Minnesota east of the Missis- 
sipppi was a part of Indiana. After the Louisiana 
purchase (1803) of the lands west of the Mississippi, 
Fort Snelling was erected and garrisoned by the 
United States. The Territory was already the seat 
of an active trade with the Indians and the govern- 
ment had some trouble with the traders. In 1820 
Minnesota was explored by Gen. Lewis Cass and 
three years later by Maj. Long. A third exploring 
party was sent out in 1832, under H. R. Schoolcraft, 
who discovered the source of the Mississippi River." 
In 1842 the town of St. Paul was founded and 
settlers from various parts of the country began to 
arrive. Minnesota was organized as a Territory in 
1849. At that date half of the land within its bor- 
der was owned by the Indians. In 1858 Minnesota 
was admitted as a State. 



302 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The chief towns and cities are located on the 
Mississippi and are Winona, Wabashaw, Lake City, 
Eed Wing, Hastings, St. Paul, Minneapohs, St. 
Anthony, Dayton, Monticello and St. Cloud, but 
other places are rapidly assuming importance. 

St. Paul is fast becoming an immense manufac- 
turing city, and the centre of a trade both thriving 
and lucrative. 

Mr. Barstow has permitted me to glance over the 
leaves of his diary of American Travel, and to make 
an extract from his notes of a trip on the upper 
Mississippi, from Galena to St. Paul. 

"The boat shot boldly out upon the Mississippi 
on the way to Minnesota. But how shall I describe 
the pleasant surprise I experienced in the panorama, 
of nature's Hving beauty that passed before us? It 
was a delightful moonlight night, in August, a few 
days after leaving our exploring party on the plains 
of Kansas, for the purpose of making this trip, 
having been enchanted wdth the river scenery from 
this point to St. Louis, and having an irresistible 
desire to trace the beautiful river to its source 
in the distant North. The recent rains had given 
to the summer verdure the beauty of Spring; 
and everywhere before us the mighty river, now 
swollen by the rivulets of the vast water sheds, 
kissed the fohage of the shores and murmured 
around innumerable islands, and these we saw 
scattered along the broad river for four hundred 
miles in diversified positions and varying light and 
shade, all the way from Galena to St. Anthony. 
No sooner had we passed one group, than we were 
in the midst of another. Meeting the islands at 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



303 



almost every turn, gave the pleasant illusion of a 
sail through innumerable picturesque lakes. Some- 
times we were ghding by frowning bluffs on either 
side. Nothing can surpass the grandeur of the itpper 
Mississippi. 

" It is not strange that I should be fascinated, while 
floating through this western paradise, over which 
the moon shed her soft, silvery hght, and where the 
notes of the whip-poor-will rose and died far away. 
But these grand old bluffs must also be seen by day, to 
be fully appreciated. Then their red chffs, wreathed 
with fohage, are very beautiful. The rocks gen- 
erally have this reddish hue and are often shaded 
like the finest painting. It is not possible to describe 
the tint of these masses of rock. I have seen noth- 
ing on the Rhine, that is more picturesque and 
beautiful. 

" There are flourishing little towns aU along these 
shores. Winona, 229 miles above Galena, is a grow- 
ing place. I was surprised to see the immense 
quantities of freight brought there. There were two 
or three hundred people about the landing, many of 
them with torches, by the hght of which the freight 
was landed. 

" Long after midnight I remained on deck, to get a 
sight of Lake Pepin. This beautiful expanse of 
water is about forty miles long, and from two to five 
miles wide. It is said to be very deep and to have 
no perceptible current. In the vicinity, we find little 
groves of hemlocks, pines, tamarac and cedar. Near 
the head of the lake is Maiden Rock, that rises ab- 
ruptly from the water to a great height. Here tra- 
dition locates an*Indian tragedy, which is given by 



304 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Seymour in his ' Sketches of Minnesota:' 'About 
half a century ago an Indian belle, whose name was 
Winona, of the tribe of Wabasha, formed an ardent 
attachment for a young hunter, by whom her at- 
tachment was reciprocated. Her parents, however, 
preferred to have her unite her hand with a young 
warrior who had distinguished himself in battle 
against the Chippewas. The warrior's suit being 
rejected by the daughter, the father threatened that 
she should be united to him on that very day. The 
family were then accompanying a party on an ex- 
cursion up this lake, and were encamped near this 
rock. The maiden ascended to the summit, and 
with a loud voice upbraided her friends below, for 
their cruelty to the young hunter, whom they had 
driven into the forest, and cruelty to her for oppos- 
ing her union to the only man whom she loved, and 
endeavoring to make her faithless to him, by com- 
pelling her to marry another. She then commenced 
singing her " death-song, and regardless of the en- 
treaties of her friends and parents, who promised to 
relinquish all compulsion, she threw herself from 
the precipice and fell a lifeless corpse.' 

" Passing Eed Wing, 333 miles, and steaming on for 
a distance of nearly thirty miles, we arrived atPres- 
cott, near the confluence of Lake St. Croix and the 
Mississippi. The St. Croix is in the midst of an in- 
teresting and picturesque region, and here forms 
the boundary line between the State and Wisconsin. 

"The Mississippi is now growing narrower, the 
currents more rapid and we near St. Paul. Arriv- 
ing at this beautiful city, I proceeded by stage over 
the prairie, on the way to the Falls of St. Anthony. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 305 

I crossed the wire suspension bridge from St. An- 
thony to Minneapohs, a lovely httle city, as enter- 
prising and as flourishing as St. Paul, which is say- 
ing a good deal, for of all the hve cities thus far 
seen, there is none more brisk and enterprising than 
St. Paul. The sites of both Minneapohs and St. 
Anthony are dehghtful. They are built on level 
ground, with an illimitable expanse of fertile prairie, 
gently rolhng away to the distant horizon. I made 
a hasty visit to Fort Snelhng, formerly the Indian 
frontier, but the Indians have long since 'moved 
on' and are no longer in the vicinity. Eeturning 
from the Fort, I visited the FaHs of Minnehaha, not 
only notable in Longfellow's charming "Hiawatha," 
but exceedingly beautiful and grand, and returned 
to St. Anthony by Lake Calhoun. Lake Minne- 
tonka is a larger and more beautiful body of water, 
still further south. It is said that the distance nav- 
igable, between the several rapids above St. An- 
thony, is about 300 miles. 

"Far to the north, the river banks become lower 
and the stream winds through tamarac swamps and 
forests of cedar and fir. What a net- work of lakes 
and rivers between the sources of the Mississippi 
and Lake Superior ! 

"About ten miles distant from St. Paul is Great 
Bear Lake, a very beautiful sheet of water, which 
is a favorite resort in summer. Lake Minnehaha 
and Green Lake, not far distant, are both exceed- 
mgly interesting to tourists. 

" I made a flying visit to Madison, the capital of 
Wisconsin, which is certainly one of the most de- 
hghMul cities in America. The city is ahnost sur- 



306 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

rounded by four beautiful lakelets — Mendota, Mo- 
nona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa; of these Mendota is 
the largest, extending over an area of fifty square 
miles. The shores are of white gravel, and the 
water, which is fifty feet deep, is as clear as crystal. 
Monona is not quite half as large, but is quite as 
beautiful. The other two lakes are very small — not 
over three miles in length by two in width — httle 
sheets of silver upon an emerald ground. The city 
is in the valley with hills and groves in the back- 
ground, — a picture of beauty such as I have no 
where else seen, rewarded my visit to the tower of 
the Capitol. What a marvelous panorama met my 
sight ! Below me was the city, and as far as the eye 
could reach was spread a lovely and picturesque 
landscape. Little wonder that the Madisonians are 
proud of their city, which for beauty is not sur- 
passed on either continent. The Capitol, of white 
hmestone, stands in a beautiful park of fourteen 
acres, surrounded by an iron palisade. With schools 
of the highest order, many fine churches, elegant 
residences, imposing stores, university, asylum, first- 
class news journals, and all the appointments and 
surroundings which taste, enterprise and wealth 
can give, and with a healthful chmate, Madison is 
a charming place for residence. 

Milwaukee, notable for its extensive grain trade, 
its elegant homes, its picturesque location, its gen- 
eral enterprise, its benevolent institutions; Racine, 
one of the leading cities of the State in all respects; 
Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Janesville, are all flour- 
ishing and charming cities, all eminently prosperous 
and evidence the signal enterprise, the taste and 
refinement of their citizens. 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 307 

Wisconsin embraces an area of 53,924 square 
miles. There are no mountains in the State, on the 
contrary, the entire surface is a vast plain, broken 
only by cliffs that fringe the lakes and rivers. The 
general elevation of the entire region is one thous- 
and feet above the level of the sea, but some of the 
lands bordering on Lake Superior are much higher 
— perhaps 1,800 feet. 

" In the southwestern part of the State there are 
numerous mounds, some of them of considerable 
proportions. Among the latter are the Blue, 1,723 
feet above the sea; the Platte, 1,281; and the Sin- 
sinewa Mounds, 1,169 feet above the sea. These 
elevations formerly served as guides for the adven- 
turer. There is also a class of ancient earthworks 
still visible in Wisconsin, containing many pecuh- 
arities. They have been made to represent quad- 
rupeds, birds, reptiles, and even the human form. 
In the vicinity of the well-known Blue Mounds, 
there is a specimen of these earthworks representing 
a man. It is a hundred and twenty feet long, with 
a body over thirty feet wide, and a well shaped 
head. Its elevation is six feet above the surrounding 
prairie. The mound at Prairie ville is a very faithful 
and interesting representation of a turtle. The 
body is nearly sixty feet in length, and the shape of 
the head is stiU well preserved. 

"Not far from the Four Lakes there are over a 
hundred small mounds'of various shapes and dimen- 
sions ; and in the same neighborhood fragments of 
ancient pottery, of a very rude kind, have been 
found. A well formed mound near Cassville, repre- 
sents a mastodon ; which has given rise to many 



308 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

speculative opinions, among which is that very reas- 
onable one, that the ancients who built these earth- 
works, were cotemporaries with that huge animal. 
This theory is strengthened by the presence of mas- 
todon bones in these mounds." 

The prairies differ in no respect from those of 
other Territories already described. The oak open- 
ings in the south-eastern part of the State are also 
a remarkable feature. In the regions of the Fox 
and Wisconsin Rivers and Green Bay, the timber 
increases in quantity and value, and the soil changes 
from a vegetable mould to a sandy loam. 

Wisconsin is rich in minerals, especially lead, 
copper, and on two of the rivers, beautiful marble of 
light pink with veins of deep red are found. 

The lakes and rivers are generally beautiful. Be- 
sides the great lakes Superior and Michigan, which 
bound the State on the north and east, there are a 
number of smaller lakes, several of which are noted 
for the unrivalled beauty of scenery. " These small 
lakes," says Lippincott's Gazetteer, "are most 
abundant in the north-west, and are generally cha- 
racterized by clear water and gravelly bottoms, often 
with bold, picturesque shores, crowned with hem- 
lock, spruce and other trees. They afford excellent 
fish. In the shallow waters on the margins of some 
of them grows wild rice, once an important article 
of food with the savages of this region.". 

The rivers generally flow into the Mississippi. 
The climate is remarkably healthful and though the 
winters are cold and long, there are few sudden and 
violent atmospheric changes. For beauty of scenery 
Wisconsin is unsurpassed by any other region in 



AND WONDERS OP THE WEST. 309 

the North or West. If Minnesota can boast of 
being a better wheat- growing State, Wisconsin can 
show that the farm productions of her 5,795,538 
acres of improved land in 1870 were even then esti- 
mated at $326,765,238. What a glorious outlook is 
there for both States, when immigration shall have 
peopled the fertile regions now waiting the coming 
of wilhng hands ! 

Wisconsin was organized as a Territory April 20th, 
1836, and admitted to the family of States May 29th, 
1848. Within a period of 166 years, Wisconsin was 
successively under the government of France, Great 
Britain, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Ilhnois and Michi- 
gan — two Kings, one State, and four Territories. 
But it must not be supposed that the Wiscon- 
sionites are an ungovernable people. 




310 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTER XX. 

The Valley of the Yellowstone — The National Park — Scenery of Exqui- 
site Beauty — Yellowstone Lake — The Grand Canon — Wonderful 
Natural Features— The Great Falls — The Upper Falls — Firehole 
River — Wonderful Geysers — Mystic and Shadow Lakes — A Moun- 
tain of Glass — Mt. Blackmore — Route to the Park. 

A few more revolutions of the steamer's wheels 
and we arrived at the mouth of the Yellowstone, in 
the northern part of Montana, a point in the east- 
ern boundary of that Territory, in latitude 48 degrees 
north, longitude 104 degrees west. 

The natural scenery of this region is surpassingly 
beautiful. Here two great rivers, each more than 
half a mile in width, both of which have traversed 
the greater part of this picturesque and glittering 
Territory, from west to east, unite their waters and 
flow onward in sublime silence to the great ocean, 
three thousand miles away. 

We had scarcely passed the forts and crossed the 
hne of division of the territories, than we landed and 
started upon a tour of exploration along the lovely 
vaUey of the Yellowstone — the Cashmere of America. 
It is a region of rare beauty, unsurpassed in mag- 
nificence by any in this country or in the world. 
Its scenery was ever new, ever delightful, wonder- 
ful and grand, though we traversed the country for 
days and weeks in succession. 

Tourists have given to the reading pubhc occa- 
sional pencilings of the wonders of this region, but a 
description which would convey an adequate idea of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 311 

the wonderful scenery whicli everywhere startles 
with amazement and delight, even were such a de- 
scription possible, would fill the largest volume ; but 
language, however truthful, however fervid and 
forcible, is utterly insufficient to enable the reader 
to form a just conception of the grandeur and sub- 
limity, the exquisite beauty, the immensity and pic- 
turesqueness of the natural features and scenery 
here presented to view. The whole vast region is a 
grand panorama of perpetual surprise and dehght, a 
numberless succession of pictures painted by the 
Almighty, the setting, the eternal hills. 

The National Park, in the northwest corner of 
Wyoming Territory, is unequalled in the variety and 
magnificence of its scenery by any region on the 
globe. The Park embraces an area of fifty -five by 
sixty-five miles, entirely surrounded by lofty moun- 
tains, whose snow-capped peaks tower upward in 
awful grandeur to the height of ten or twelve thous- 
and feet . The Park presents alternate lake and forest 
.scenery, low ranges of volcanic rocks, and regions 
abounding with boiling springs and spouting geysers. 
It is a field of wonders, interesting alike to the trav- 
eler and the scientist. 

In this region is Yellowstone Lake, the source of 
Yellowstone River. Viewed from any of the adja- 
cent peaks, the lake appears like a broad sheet of 
pohshed silver, of irregular shape, and spread with 
perfect smoothness upon the plain below, while the 
river, which winds away in a northerly course, ap- 
pears like a thread of silver. Yellowstone Lake is a 
miniature ocean, with its setting above the clouds. 
It is diversified by gulfs, bays and harbors. Its tri- 



312 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

I 

butaries are a few short mountain torrents, which 
pour their clear, cold water into its crystal depths. 
The level, sandy shore is in many places very broad, 
and thickly scattered over it are stones of agate, 
cornelian, chalcedony and various crystalizations. 

With the exception of Lake Titicaca, in Peru, the 
Yellowstone Lake, in altitude, exceeds any great 
body of water on the globe, being 7,475 feet above 
the level of the sea. Its area is 300 square miles, 
and its greatest depth about 300 feet. Although it 
is now but 20 miles in length and 15 in width, it 
was formerly a vast inland sea. The lake has six 
projections or arms — four extending toward the 
south, one towards the west, and the other towards 
the north. The foot-hills about the lake are gener- 
ally clothed with forest trees; beyond, there is a vol- 
canic range, the naked peaks of which stand in bold 
relief against the sky. From any of these high ele- 
vations, the view of the lake and its surroundings is 
exceedingly beautiful, its azure surface being stud- 
ded with emerald islands. In the opposite direction, 
snow-clad mountain ranges, in endless succession, 
rise before you, varying in altitude, but invariably 
grand, picturesque and sublime. 

Upon the eastern side of the lake are small prai- 
ries, the grazing ground of vast herds of elk, while 
in the pine forests which border these plains maybe 
found grouse and other game, the only claimants 
for the varieties of berries that in this vicinity grow 
in profusion. 

The passage around the lake is attended with 
difficulties. Ranges of rocky hills — off-shoots of the 
loftier mountain ranges adjacent — extend down 



314 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

to the waters' edge, and form picturesque promon- 
tories over its margin ; while dark forests of gigantic 
pines, with recesses of deepest gloom, hang like a 
pall around the shore. In some places near the 
waters' edge, and even extending into the lake, are 
hot springs. 

A few miles below the foot of the lake is the 
Grand Canon, one of the most gigantic and pictur- 
esque rock-rifts in the world. Peering over the edge 
of the precipice, far down into the terrible depths, 
the river is seen more than a thousand feet below, 
a ray of light amid eternal walls of grandeur. So 
deep is the awful chasm, that, though the water 
dashes over precipices with the roar of an avalanche, 
not the faintest sound is borne aloft to the ears of 
the wondering beholder. A silence almost painful 
but subhme broods over the scene. 

A few miles below the Falls, the descent into this 
stupendous chasm may be made, though the attempt 
is daring and perilous in the extreme. Viewed 
from below, the dark gray walls loom up to such a 
terrible height that they seem as if they might 
almost imprison the soul itself. Numerous steam 
jets and boiling springs, strongly impregnated with 
sulphur or alum are seen at almost every step, as 
the traveler pursues his way up the Grand Canon 
toward the Great Falls. In many places these 
springs have cast up craters to the height of four or 
five feet, which are formed by concretions of sulphur, 
hme, silica and other chemical ingredients. The 
water in these springs is of various colors, from a 
copperas-green to a light pink or an indigo-blue. 

The most remarkable and interesting feature of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 315 

the Canon is the Falls. Here an immense sheet of 
water, one hundred and fifty feet in width, leaps 
■over a tremendous precipice three hundred and fifty 
feet high, and falls, with a roar like Niagara, in a 
broad and sohd sheet, into the depths below. Tall 
columns'of fleecy foam and snow-white spray arise 
from the wonderful basin, and stand motionless hke 
pillars of cloud — rainbow tinted to their very tops. 
The Upper Falls are situated about a quarter of a 
mile above the Great Falls, and are about 125 feet 
in height. A short distance above, the course of 
the river is through a beautiful stretch of meadow 
land, which suddenly gives way to sharp basaltic 
ridges through which the rapid river dashes with 
terrible fury. For a little distance above the FaUs, 
the river is broken into furious rapids ; and a httle 
further on, the immense volume of water leaps sud- 
denly over the terrible precipice into the yawning 
depths. As the waters rush in fury over the jutting 
rocks and dash wildly down upon the rocks below, 
they are broken in their fall, into a sea of silvery 
spray, the tiny atoms of which reflect with wonder- 
ful briUiancy the beautiful colors of the rainbow. 
Surrounding the FaUs, and standing low down upon 
the brink of the precipice, are numerous pine trees, 
which lend a charm and picturesquenessto the scene, 
impossible to describe. 

Both Falls of the Yellowstone are exceedingly 
grand and beautiful, but a just idea of their sub- 
limity and immensity can only be attained by a view 
from the depths of the canon below, or the jutting 
xocks above. 

At a distance of ten miles above the Falls, as we 



316 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

passed onward toward tlie lake, we entered a region 
abounding with boiling springs. The whole expanse^ 
covering thousands of acres, seems to be one vast 
lava-bed, with numerous vents, in which the water 
boils continually. Many of these springs are thirty 
or forty feet in diameter, and in frequent instances 
have formed craters. Sometimes these craters are 
of highly colored clay — receiving their tints from the 
chemical afencies with which the water is in con- 
tact ; again they are formed of sulphur — nearly pure, 
and with a velvet-like finish, which is very beauti- 
ful ; and still again we found them composed of th& 
most delicate crystalizations of alum. A little further 
on, is a region where the deposits are principally 
silica, of snowy whiteness ; and again, there is a region 
abounding with cauldrons of boiling mud, wdiich in 
many places is strongly impregnated with sulphur, 
emitting a very disagreeable odor. In some in- 
stances these latter springs are active volcanoes,, 
casting, at intervals, their murky contents to the 
height of several feet. 

Passing westerly from Yellowstone Lake, we en- 
tered upon the wonderful basin of Firehole Eiver,, 
which is one of the most remarkable geyser regions, 
in the world. The tract comprises an area of thirty 
or forty square miles. Firehole river has its rise -in 
Madison Lake-, in the southwestern part of National 
Park, and is the chief tributary of Madison River. 
Firehole River is a succession of falls and rapids, all 
of which are very beautiful. Compared with the 
geysers of the Firehole Basin, the great geyser of 
Iceland sinks into insignificance. The geysers spout 
at intervals of from two to thirty hours. The first 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 317 

one discovered by the explorers of 1871, threw a col- 
umn of water, five or six feet in diameter, to the 
height of 125 feet, and held it there for fifteen or 
twenty minutes. Other geysers, in this region, 
throw columns of water twenty-five or even thirty 
feet in diameter, to the height of two or three hun- 
dred feet and some exceed even these. One called 
the "Bee-Hive" cast a column of water to the 
heighth of 219 feet. The " Giantess" throws a col- 
umn to the height of 250 feet, and these are exceeded 
in magnitude by hundreds of others in this volcanic 
region. 

' The water of the geysers varies in temperature 
from 150 to 200 degrees, Fahr., and it is strongly 
charged with the various salts common to volcanic 
regions. 

" A member of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, re- 
portmg his observations in this region, says : — 

" Brimstone Basin is the name given to a valley on 
the east side of the lake, which is filled with the 
ruins of former hot springs. Nothing is now left save 
the glaring white deposit which extends far up on 
the mountain's side in deep ravines. These depos- 
its consist in part of sulphur, from which sulphurous 
odors are still given off, and the water, passing 
through the beds, acquires a strong taste of alum. 

" Steamboat Point is on the northeast shore of the 
main arm of the lake. We pitch our tents on the 
bluff, two hundred feet above the water level, on a 
grassy lawn, which is adorned with grand old spruce 
trees, whose symmetry and beauty would be an or- 
nament to the finest park in the world. At the ex- 
tremity of the bluff, there are a number of steam 



318 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

jets, from which there escape immense volumes of 
steam, with a continuous noise, resembhng that 
made by a large steamboat, when the escape valve 
is open. These act, in reality, as the escape valves 
for the forces far beneath, and even they are not 
altogether sufficient, for each night, while we stay 
here, we will experience an earthquake. About a 
mile from Yellowstone Lake, we find a smaller lake, 
whose waters are of a greenish-yellow color, and 
taste strongly of alum. This we call Turbid Lake. 
Its whole surface is covered with bubbles of escap- 
ing gas. 

" Leaving here, we enter the valley of PeHcan 
Creek, one of the tributaries of Yellowstone Lake. 
At the point we enter it, the valley is wide and 
meadow-like, and the creek winds through it in a 
serpentine course, its water covered with flocks of 
wild geese and ducks. So tame are they, that, al- 
though we fire repeatedly into their midst, they are 
not disturbed. Our course is up stream. The ascent 
is gradual, however ; the valley becomes narrower 
and narrower, until, at last, we reach the head of 
the stream, and at sunset camp on the shore of 
Shadow Lake, nearly three thousand feet above 
Yellowstone Lake. The lake is beautifully situated. 
Tall pines stand upon its banks like gloomy senti- 
nels clothed in sombre green. The water is per- 
fectly placid." 

But the most beautiful expanse of water in this 
region of wonders, is Mystic Lake, which is about 
half a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in 
width. Lofty wood-crowned hills slope to within a 
short distance of its grassy banks, while far above 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 319' 

them rise a volcanic snow-capped range of moun- 
tains, from the summit of which project jagged 
peaks and jutting rocks, that afford a foothold for 
the mountain sheep. A stream flowing from the 
lake forces its way into a deep basin through ledges 
of limestone, forming many beautiful cascades. Not 
far distant from the lake are delightful meadows, 
studded with little groves of pine, and here herds of 
antelope graze. On a plateau, a hundred feet higher 
than Mystic Lake, may be seen through the branches 
of the pine trees, two smaller lakes, the water of 
which is of emerald tint ; they form a beautiful pic- 
ture in this silent and tenantless region. 

A mountain of obsidian or volcanic glass, it is re- 
ported, has recently been discovered near the foot 
of Beaver Lake. This new wonder consists of col- 
umnar cliffs of several hundred feet in altitude, in 
the immediate vicinity of boiling springs, at the 
margin of the lake. It is said that the exploring 
party cut a road through the steep, glassy barrier, 
which they accomplished by making fires on the 
glass, then dashing cold water upon it. Large frag- 
ments were in this way detached from the sohd sides 
of the mountain and broken by hammers. In the 
grand canon of the Gibson River, the explorers also 
found chffs of yellow, black and banded obsidian, 
hundreds of feet high. The natural glass of these 
localities has, it is said, long been used by the In- 
dians for tips of spears and arrow heads. 

The only route to the Park, at present known to 
be convenient of access, is from the settlements in 
Montana Territory by the way of Fort Ellis, on the 
Gallatin river to the vaUey of the Lower Yellow- 



320 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

stone; thence eastward around the lake, stopping 
at the liot si)riiigs ; crossing numerous small tribu- 
taries, the most interesting of which is the Upper 
Yellowstone, and passing from the west side, west- 
erly into the basin of Firehole River. 

The mountain scenery in this region is grand and 
beautiful. The snow-capped peaks of the Wind 
River Range on the south, loom up wdth awful sub- 
limity, as though they would pierce the skies. The 
main divide of the Rocky Mountains on the w'est, 
presents a distinct outline, dark and threatening; 
while the Snowy Mountains on the east, and the 
Gallatin peaks on the north, are more picturesque 
and interesting. 

From the summit of a high mountain peak south 
of the beautiful valley of Gallatin River, the Missouri 
is seen directly in the distance upon the one side, 
and on the other Jefferson and Madison Rivers, both 
of w^hich unite wdth the Gallatin. To the south of 
our point of observation, we look upon a most rug- 
ged, wild and pictures(iue region, with giant moun- 
tains the chief feature in the landscape. Upon the 
nearer ranges, which are volcanic, snow may be 
seen. Eastward extend the Snowy Range of the 
Yellowstone. Emigrant Peak, Mount Delano and 
Mount Cowan of this range are distintly visible, as 
are also many lofty peaks of the Madison Range, 
which extend to the w^estern horizon, wdiile just 
below us is the crater of an extinct volcano. The 
perpendicular wall, on the northern and western 
sides, is too steep to hold the snow, which lies in 
deep banks before us, upon which the sun never 
shines. The height of this peak, known as Mount 
Blackmore, is ten thousand feet. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 321 

Had the Northern Pacific Raihoad been comple- 
ted, it would have furnished tourists and settlers an 
easy, rapid and convenient mode of access to the 
wonderful region and the fertile valleys adjacent. 

It is certain that but a few years will elapse till 
the American people will find it an imperative 
necessity. Settlements are rapidly springing up all 
along the entire line of the road ; the hardy pioneer 
and frontiersman already appreciate the fact that 
the mines and fields of Montana and Wyoming are 
inexhaustible sources of wealth. Starting from 
Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, the Northern 
Pacific Road pursues a westerly direction tiU it 
reaches the valley of the Yellowstone, about 150 
miles above its confluence with the Missouri; it 
then follows the course of the Yellowstone, for a 
distance of 500 miles, till it passes through the 
Snowy Mountain Range, when it turns abruptly to 
the northwest, and breaking through a convenient 
pass in the Rocky Mountains, pursues its way to 
the Pacific. This grand enterprise will be consum- 
ated in the near future. 

In the summer of 1879, two miners had a thriUing 
adventure in the Big Horn Canon, in the Yellow- 
stone region. These men wishing to save two 
hundred miles travel around the mountains, con- 
cluded to make a short cut by going through the 
canon,— an exploit never before attempted by man. 
With some tools they had in the mining camp 
they constructed a frail craft, at the bottom of the 
canon, having previously taken down a sufficient 
quantity of red cedar for the purpose. The boat 
was made twelve feet long and three feet wide, and, 



522 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

upon trial, was found to carry its cargo of freight 
and passengers admirably. 

All being in readiness, on the morning of July 
23d, the men embarked and pushed their boat into 
the current. The rush of the river, which before 
starting was almost deafening, became terrible, as 
the boat started on its passage through this un- 
known gorge. To go back was utterly impossible; 
to climb the precipitous solid limestone walls which 
rose five hundred feet above their heads, where a 
narrow streak of light shone upon their course, was 
a visionary idea not to be entertained for a moment ; 
through they must go, trusting to their ability to 
avoid rocks, and to the strength of their httle craft 
to run the rapids, which they met at every bend of 
the canon. The loudest halloo was heard as a whis- 
per. Grottoes, caves, and recesses were rapidly 
passed by those daring explorers. In places, flocks 
of mountain sheep, startled by the appearance of 
the curiosity rushing hj below them, would run 
along a narrow ledge of rocks, jump from crag to 
crag, where footing for man would be impossible, 
and disappear. The scene was wild, weird beyond 
description, and can scarcely be imagined. 

Evening coming on, they attempted to tie up for 
the night. They managed to work the boat close 
to the shore, at the imminent peril of its destruction 
upon the rocks, and jumped out without injury, but 
the rope attached to the bow of the boat parted, 
and in an instant their fragile craft was being 
whirled rapidly onward by the swift-rushing waters, 
carrying with it their guns and provisions. The sit- 
uation was truly apalling. With starvation behind 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 323 

them, and scarcely a foothold before them, their 
chances of escape were indeed doubtful. Luckily, 
they found two logs that had been borne down by 
the stream, and lodged in an indentation of the rock ; 
these they lashed together with their belts and a 
portion of their clothing, and again trusting to the 
river and dangerous rocks, they pushed out into the 
stream, and were borne along with great rapidity. 
At a distance of two miles from the place of the ac- 
cident, the boat was found in an eddy of the river — 
formed by jutting rocks — and by the greatest pos- 
sible efforts, the men regained it. 

On the afternoon of the third day, while wonder- 
ing how much longer the Big Horn Canon could 
possibly be, they shot out into the beautiful Big 
Horn Valley, with Fort C. F. Smith on their right. 
It was a thriUing exi^erience which they will not re- 
peat to save double the distance around the moun- 
tain. 




324 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

^Wyoming — Mountains — Rivers — Valleys— Plains — Wild Animals — The 
Bed of a Former Ocean — Wonderful Natural Curiosities — Ante- 
■deluvian Animals — Gold Discoveries — Cheyenne — Forts— Montana 
— Climate — Routes to Montana — Natural Divisions of the Territory 
— River Sources in the Mountains. 

The magnificent Territory of Wyoming embraces 
an area of 98,000 square miles, its length from east 
to west being 355 miles; its width 276 miles, — as 
great an area as the whole of New England and 
the State of Indiana together. On the north is 
Montana, on the east are Dakota and Nebraska, on 
the south are Colorado and Utah, and on the west 
is Idaho and a part of Utah. For healthfulness of 
chmate, diversity and grandeur of scenery and 
wealth of resources the Territory is unsurpassed. 

The southeastern portion is a continuation of the 
Platte region, and does not differ from that of Ne- 
braska, but the northern, western and central por- 
tions are made up of grand and lofty mountain 
ranges — the sources of rivers, thousands of miles in 
length, which, after watering a continent, find their 
way to the Atlantic upon one side and the Pacific 
on the other. These mountains are portions of the 
vast range which extend from north to south of 
the western continent. The most conspicuous is 
the Wind Eiver Eange, which includes Fremont's 
Peak and Snow's Peak, both more than 13,000 feet 
in height. Within a short distance of each other 
are the sources of the great Missouri and Colorado 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 325 

Bivers. Then there are the Big Horn Mountains, 
the Sierra Shoshones, a portion of the Black Hills of 
Dakota, the Wasatch Eange, the Sweetwater Moun- 
tains and the Black Hills of Wyoming. 

The Platte Valley extends far into the central and 
southern parts of the Territory, comprising an area 
of 22,000 square miles. The Powder Eiver Valley 
opens to the north ; and other valleys of importance- 
are the Sweetwater, the Big Horn and the valley of 
Green River. In addition to these, there are very 
many small valleys, fertile bottom lands and good 
grazing grounds. "The plains are those of the 
Platte, Powder, Big Horn, Sweetwater, Green 
River, Belle Fourche and Cheyenne, and include 
the lands lying between the bottoms and the foot 
hills — immense regions, too dry for cultivation with- 
out irrigation, but furnishing food for milhons of 
cattle and sheep." 

The soil of the Territory is as varied as its sur- 
face. Stock feed upon the plains at all seasons. 
Near the mountains there are barren spots, but 
more frequently the grasses grow upon the foot hills 
and the growth is luxuriant in the many thousands 
of ravines and canons. Dense forests of pine, cedar, 
fir and hemlock cover the mountains, and the val- 
leys are diversified by groves of cottonwood and 
other trees. 

In Wyoming the hunter may have his choice of 
game for there may be found in any number buffalo^ 
elk, antelope, deer, grizzly and cinnamon bears, puma, 
wild cat, lynx and Rocky Mountain sheep, while 
among the smaller game he may find grouse, part- 
ridges, ducks, geese and rabbits. The trapper re- 



326 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

joices in an abundance of beaver, mink and marten ; 
and the angler becomes enthusiastic over his luck 
in taking the finest trout, and other choice varieties 
of the finny tribe. 

The geology of Wyoming is especially interesting. 
The tourist, even if unskilled in science, can read- 
ily picture the upheavals that formed the moun- 
tains and divided the ocean into lakes. He may 
trace the gradual subsidence of these oceans, the 
beaches they made, their action upon limestone and 
granite, until channels were worn, and the pent-up 
waters flowed down the valleys, now watered by the 
diminished streams. 

Wyoming is full of natural curiosities. Here are 
mountains of granite, limestone and sandstone; 
beautiful parks and mirror lakes ; natural bridges ; 
Titanic gateways ; balanced rocks ; skull rocks and 
table rocks ; and a mockery of art in domes, cathe- 
dral spires and frowning battlements, which have 
no counterparts of proportions in the work of hu- 
man hands. The mausoleums of extinct animals, 
which hved thousands of years before man was cre- 
ated, are found here — the remains in such perfec- 
tion, that not only can the immense mastodon, 
crocodiles, turtles, etc., be studied in the complete- 
ness of every part, but fish have been preserved, 
even to the smallest scales, and insects without so 
much as the loss of their delicate antennae. 

From these beds in which the living forms of the 
past have been ])reserved, rather than fossilized, 
science has recently drawn some of its most aston- 
ishing deductions as to the ancient fauna, flora and 
climate of this continent, and more remains to 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 327 

tempt the curious, and reward the search for truth. 
Of all these natural curiosities, the Yellowstone 
Park is perhaps the chief. 

The wealth now hidden in the mountains and 
streams and under the soil of Wyoming will soon be 
brought to light. Gold exists in every mountain 
chain of the Territory, and mingles with the sands 
of almost every stream. It has been found in abun- 
dance upon the Sweetwater, and the Big Horn 
Mountains are believed to conceal more gold than 
the Black Hills of Dakota. Silver, lead, copper and 
iron are known to exist in immense deposits. Coal 
is also found in abundance, and occasionally, to the 
depth of 25 feet, as at Evanston, on the hne of the 
Union Pacific Eailroad. The less valuable precious 
stones — agate, topaz, jasper, garnet, quartz crystal, 
and beautiful petrifactions, are scattered over the 
mountainous part of the Territory. Through the 
southern part of this splendid country, from east to 
west, extends the line of the Union Pacific Railroad. 

Wyoming was organized as a Territory, May 10th, 
1869. In all the principal cities and towns, schools 
and churches are well sustained, and wherever set- 
tlements have been made, there are abundant evi- 
dences of enterprise, thrift and prosperity. 

Cheyenne is the capital and chief city of Wyo- 
ming ; it is also the county seat of Laramie County, 
which comprises a territory of more than twenty 
thousand square miles — somewhat larger than the 
counties of Eastern States. In 18(37, Cheyenne was 
a very small settlement, but at this date it is a 
pretty and flourishing city of five or six thousand 
inhabitants. Its rise and prosperity is due to the 



328 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

opening of the Union Pacific Eailroad. The city is 
supphed with water from two artificial lakes formed 
by diverting the waters of Crow Creek into twa 
little valleys in the vicinity. 

An important industry of the city is the manu- 
facture of jewelry, from the materials afforded by the 
western mountains. Other revenues are derived by 
furnishing supplies to the military posts and Indian 
agencies, and also from the freighting business. 
The thousands of miners who go to the Black Hills 
here obtain their supplies. At an early day Chey- 
enne will be the terminus of two important railway 
lines now in contemplation. Near the city is Camp 
Carlin and Fort Russell. 

The line of military defences between the great 
trans-continental railroad and Montana are the 
following : Fort Laramie, due north of Cheyenne 
and about ninety miles distant, is established upon 
a reservation of fifty-four square miles. It is a 
place of importance from its position on the road 
to Montana and the Big Horn and Powder River 
regions, and is a trading post for trappers and 
Indians. Fort Fetterman is eighty miles further 
on — situated on the South side of the Platte. The 
reservation includes sixty sections of land. Fort 
Reno, Fort Phil. Kearney, and Fort Smith guard 
the Powder and Tongue River districts which 
embrace the best agricultural lands in the State, 
and ofi'er especial attractions to miners and stock- 
men. The soil of those regions is fertile, timber is 
abundant, and irrigation is unnecessary. Within a 
very few years this favored section of the Territory 
over which now^ roam bands of Indians and wild 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 329 

beasts, will become the thrifty domains of white 
settlers. 

We return to the great empire of the Northwest, 
the Territory of Montana. It is indeed wonderland, 
not more for the marvelous beauty of its natural 
scenery than for its illimitable resources. It is 
Nature's treasure repository of the continent. As 
we contemplate its mineral and agricultural wealth, 
so accessible to man, its healthful climate, the 
glorious achievements of its enterprising citizens, 
all is as seemingly unreal and fanciful as a fairy 
tale, but the facts and figures are before us, and as 
we reahze their depth of meaning, a new wonder 
possesses the mind — wonder that this vast realm is 
so sparsely populated — that the tide of immigration 
has not long ago densely peopled the Territory. 
There is but one solution of the subject, and that is, 
the people have not yet fully comprehended the 
facts that have been published, and the too general 
supposition that the region is inaccessible, beyond 
the bounds of civilization, and the journey thither 
beset mth perils innumerable. 

A brief resume of facts within my own observa- 
tion, and the reliable information, furnished me 
by the accomplished journahst of Helena — whose 
sparkling journal, the Herald, is invaluable for its 
fund of intelligence concerning the Territory — will 
interest the reader, and tend to correct any erro- 
neous impressions that may exist, relative to this 
rich and attractive region. 

Montana is five hundred miles long and three 
hundred miles wide — comprising an area of 150,000' 
square miles, and hence larger than all New Eng- 



•330 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

land and New York State together. England, Ire- 
land, Scotland and Wales combined, do not equal the 
Territory of Montana in size. It embraces all that 
area betw^een the 45th and 49th parallels of north 
latitude, and the 104th and 116th meridians of west 
longitude. Although the latitude is so high, there 
are portions of the Territory in the same latitude as 
parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Oregon, 
France and Switzerland, and portions in a lower lat- 
itude than Great Britain, Belgium, Prussia, Norway 
and Sweden. 

Although the Territory, hke that of Dakota, which 
is still larger, has a great range of chmate, it is 
everywhere healthful and delightful. The tempera- 
ture is generally mild and even, and although severe 
cold weather is sometimes experienced, it is never 
long continued. The rainfall has increased during 
the past few^ years, and the snow upon the moun- 
tains hes deep, but the proportion of stormy days is 
smaU. The glorious sunshine and pure air for the 
greater part of the year, is eminently conducive to 
health. 

The Territory is diversified with mountains— ranges, 
«purs and peaks. The head waters of the Missouri 
and the Columbia Rivers lie within its borders, and 
it is well watered bv these, and by the Yellowstone. 
Milk, Marias, Muscleshell, Tongue, Big Horn and 
Powder Rivers, and their tributaries. In the valleys 
of the western, central and southern portions of the 
Territory, the soil is fertile ; upon the table lands it 
requires irrigation. Of the eastern portion of the 
State, I shall speak at greater length. The Terri- 
tory is well timbered throughout, the mountains be- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 331 

ing covered with a dense growth of pine, fir and 
spruce, some of which attain very large size. 

The principal valleys are the Yellowstone, Galla- 
tin, Madison, Jefi'erson, Muscleshell, Judith Basin, 
Deer Lodge, Missouri, Prickly Pear, Bitter Root, 
Jocko, Big Hole, Hellgate, Blackfoot, Dearborn, 
Teton, Marias, Milk and Sun Rivers. 

" Montana boasts of the finest river and valley 
system in the world," says Strahorn, in his work, 
" To the Rockies and Beyond," " having a dozen 
rivers as large and beautiful as the Mohawk or 
Juniata — three of which are navigable. All the 
streams are full of trout and other fish ; elk, deer, 
antelope, moose, bear, mountain sheep, and many 
kinds of small game abound. Numerous hot springs 
and a mild, invigorating atmosphere are among the 
attractions for health seekers. The value of the 
productions in 1878, of mines, farms, pasture lands, 
etc., was sixteen million dollars, or $450 for every 
man, woman and child in the Territory." Churches, 
schools, libraries and good daily and weekly news- 
papers are well sustained. 

More than forty miUions acres of pastoral and 
sixteen millions acres of agricultural lands are com- 
prised in the vast domain, and five-sixths of all this val- 
uable Territory is yet unoccupied, and yet no region 
under our flag ofi^ers greater inducements to immi- 
gration. The valley and bench lands have a less 
altitude than 3,000 feet, while the average elevation 
of Wyoming is 6,400 feet, Nevada and New Mexico 
5,600 feet. 

This Territory may be reached by immigration by 
-steamboat to Fort Benton, on the Missouri River, 



332 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and by steamboat up the Yellowstone; or by the 
Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha, and the Utah 
and Northern from Ogden, and overland coaches 
or private conveyances. The latter railroad has its 
terminus at Beaver Canon, 2()0 miles south of Helena. 
The main range of the Rocky Mountains enters 
Montana from the North, between the 113th and 
114th degrees of longitude, bearing southerly to 
about half-way between the 45th and 46th parallels 
of latitude. From this point, it turns abruptly to the 
West, about two degrees of longitude, where it 
intersects the Bitter Root Range. The western hne 
of the Territory, from the intersection follows the 
crest of the latter mountains north to the Coeur 
d'Alene Range, and from these latter mountains to 
the British Possessions. This constitutes the " West 
side" of Montana, or that part drained by Clark's 
Fork of the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean. 
It embraces an area of about three-and-a-half degrees 
of longitude in length, by three parallels of latitude 
in breadth — about one-fourth the area of the Terri- 
tory. The other three-fourths is drained by the great 
Missouri into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Unlike other large rivers of the world, the Amazon 
and the Nile,that have their sources and flow through 
great marshes, swamps and lakes, the great rivers 
of Montana are fed by innumerable creeks, gulches, 
ravines and rivulets, having their source near the 
summit of her mountain ranges, flowing with a 
rapid current to the main streams, filling, but never 
overflowing their banks. There is comparatively 
no marshy or swampy land in Montana. All these 
little streams have cut their way through the moun- 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 333 

tains, leaving great divides on either side, some of 
them as high or higher than the main range. The 
mountains rise from five to ten thousand feet above 
sea level. At this altitude all the moisture received 
from the clouds for six months of the year is in the 
form of snow. It keeps falling at intervals all that 
time, and there is no perceptible diminution by 
evaporation or otherwise. 

During the time the snow falls, or soon after, the 
wind deposits it in gullies and low places, on the 
opposite side of the mountain. This is invariably 
repeated at every snow fall. The winds of winter 
are from the west and northwest, so that all the 
snow, falling upon the bare and exposed places on 
the summit or western slope of the mountains, is 
picked up by these prevailing winds and deposited 
on the opposite side. Thus these low places not 
only retain the snow that naturally falls there, but 
the snow that, but for the winds, would have covered 
the ground for many miles around. In this way 
immense snow-drifts are formed at the head of every 
one of the thousands of streams of every size, rising 
in the mountains of Montana, and in every low 
place or depression in the sides of the tens of 
thousands of miles of mountain ranges that form 
their banks. These snow-drifts settle and pack, 
and by spring they become almost as solid and firm 
as ice. They vary in depth from five to twenty, and 
in some instances, thirty feet. 

Here, on every mountain side, hanging far above 
the streams, are great reservoirs of congealed water, 
held securely and firmly by the unvarying tempera- 
ture of winter, until gentle spring comes and un- 



334 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

locks the rivers from their icy fastenings and warms 
the alluvial soil of their great valleys, and the bright 
rays of the sun slowly and surely penetrate the 
crystal mass, sending the water trickhng down the 
mountain side, filling the streams with that pure 
and sparkling liquid. 

At the altitude of these banks of compact snow, 
the nights are always cool, and hence it is, that as 
soon as the sun sinks beyond the mountains in the 
west, the melting process ceases, and the water is 
held in check during the night, to be let loose again 
only on the return of the sun's rays. This wise 
provision of nature, in the gradual melting of the 
snow-banks, prolongs the water s apply and pre- 
vents the inundation of the States bordering on the 
lower rivers. If the snow-fall was evenly spread 
over the surface of the whole country, much more 
of it would be taken up by evaporation, and it would 
melt and pass off rapidly, leaving a low stage of 
water in the rivers during a great part of the season. 

The snow-fall of Montana is much less than in 
the Territories to the south. It is her more ex- 
tensive mountain ranges, and the drifting and pack- 
ing process of the snow that falls, that makes it 
possible for her to give birth to two of the largest 
rivers on the continent. 

The sources of the two great drain rivers of Mon- 
tana are not clearly understood, even in our own 
country, owing, doubtless, to the fact that these 
rivers do not retain their names to their true sour- 
ces. By their true source we mean the stream that 
conducts the most westerly drainage to the Atlantic 
and the most easterly drainage to the Pacific. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 335 

When Lewis and Clark named the three forks of 
the Missouri, they were in doubt as to which was 
the true source of that great river. When, how- 
ever, they reached the confluence of the Beaverhead 
and Wisdom or Big Hole Rivers, and had ascended 
the former as far as they could with their boats, 
they concluded that it was the true source of the 
great Missouri. Some geographers claim the Madi- 
son to be the true source; others, that the Wisdom 
or Big Hole is the stream entitled to that distinc- 
tion. Appleton's Cyclopedia says the Wisdom 
River is thought by many to be the true source, 
and that it rises within a mile of the headwaters of 
Clark's Fork of the Columbia. Instead of one mile 
the distance is 125 miles. 

Fires not unfrequently occur in the forests bor- 
dering the large rivers, as well as upon the extensive 
plains in autumn when the grass has become dry, 
not only proving destructive to valuable property, 
but to human life. The following thrilling incident 
which occurred in the autumn of 1879, illustrates 
the rapidity with which the flames extend when 
once kindled. Col. Leon and a Mr. Perry, lessees 
of Canon ferry, at the head of the Magpie River, 
started down the mountain road, in a vehicle drawn 
by a pair of horses. The wind swept violently 
from summit to base, and with it floated great 
clouds of smoke, a party of prospectors having the 
day before allowed their camp-fires to extend to the 
grass in the vicinity. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon, Leon and his companion reahzed that 
the whole vast incline back of them was in flames, 
and that the tire was sweeping down the mountain 
with great rapidity. 



•"336 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

With a crooked, rocky, and in some places un- 
broken road before them, the travelers became 
alarmed for their safety. What was to be done, 
must be done with the utmost dispatch. Their 
only hope lay in outstripping the advancing flames. 
Leon put whip to the horses and the animals 
dashed along the verge of the dizzy precipices at 
breakneck speed. The booming of falling timber, 
and the roar and crackling of the flames was fright- 
ful in the extreme, and rose above the voices of the 
men, while the smoke was blinding and at times 
concealed the rugged road. Hot blasts of air had 
nearly exhausted the horses, when to add to the 
horror of the position, it was found on making a 
sharp turn in the road, that it had been choked up 
by tumbling rocks and the debris of pine trees that 
had fallen from above. These obstructions, the men 
were obliged to remove, a work which required 
many minutes, the flames the meantime pursuing 
them with fury. When they again started, trees 
were falling aU about them, the atmosphere was 
filled with smoke and the fumes of burning pitch. 
A short run, at the utmost speed of the horses, for 
a quarter of a mile, brought the travelers to a clear- 
ing upon the mountain side and they escaped. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



337 



CHAPTEE XXII. 



^Eastern Montana— A Vast Unoccupied Region — The Western Wilds in 
Earlier Days — Appearance of the Countiy — Productions — Stock 
Eaising — Attractions lor the Tourist — Hunting Grounds — A Letter 
by Arapooish, a Crow Chief. 

In speaking of Montana, we 
generally ignore entirely the larg- 
est part. Referring to its mines, 
its agricultural and pastoral set- 
tlements, we think only of the 
western third, lying on both sides 
of the main range of the Rocky 
Mountains, and the numerous 
spurs extending east and west of 
the great divide ; but a glance at 
the map shows us that the pres- 
ent settlements hardly extend 
east of the 111th meridian, while 
the eastern boundary of Montana lies seven degrees 
further east. 

Here is an immense scope of country, covering 
seven degrees of longitude (104 — 111 W.), and four 
degrees of latitude (45 — 49 N.), or 350 miles east 
and west by 250 miles north and south, which is, as 
yet, hardly touched by civihzation. A few stray 
cow-boys or sheep-herders, may be found along its 
western border, and a thin hne of scattered settle- 
ments cuts through it along the northern bank of 
the Yellow^stone, but hardly an impression has yet 
been made on its 90,0(X) square miles. 

29 




338 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Eastern Montana is divided into thi'ee belts of 
nearly equal size by its two principal rivers, the Mis- 
souri and the Yellowstone. These two unite on its- 
eastern border, and they have served in the past as 
the highways by which the only access to the coun- 
try was practicable. If we except the early French 
travelers who reached the Eocky Mountains within 
Montana, and probably traversed a considerable por- 
tion of the country along their eastern base, the first 
real explorers of these Western wilds were Lewis 
and Clarke, with whose wonderful exploits we are all 
famihai*. They ascended the Missouri, and dividing 
their party, one division descended the Yellowstone, 
thus showing the navigabihty of these two streams 
for mackinaws and batteaux. The knowledge thus 
gained was soon taken advantage of by the adven- 
turous fur-traders and trappers, ever on the lookout 
for virgin ground, to which they might extend their 
operations and reap a rich harvest before the arrival 
of keen competitors. Although a fascinating theme, 
I cannot dwell on these early times, seemingly so far 
off, because nothing like them can now be f ound,but 
really only half a century removed from the present 
day,when scores of steamboats are navigating these 
two rivers, and it is only a matter of *a few more 
years before the iron rails will be laid along theii' 
banks and across their waters. 

The pages which shall truly tell the history of 
those days [will be ^as full of romance as any in the 
history of our country. Many a night I have sat 
among the buckskin-clad hunters and trappers 
around the camp fires and hstened to the tales of 
deeds, rivalling those of Daniel Boone ; and the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 63^ 

shores of the Missouri are truly as bloody ground ay 
the woods and prairies of Kentucky. 

Those of our readers who have come up that river 
must have had pointed out to them many a now 
deserted cabin, many a brushy ravine or narrow 
" coohe," as scenes of gallant fights or bloody mas- 
sacre. They must have been told how eight young" 
men from St. Louis, were brought up on a steam- - 
boat, and selected a place for a wood yard, built , 
their cabin, and were found by the same steamboat 
on its return from Benton, eight blackened corpses 
among the smouldering house logs ; they had been j 
too confiding ; allowed the Indians to come up'' to i 
them, and were killed with their own weapons. Or 
they have landed at the old trading post, at the 
mouth of the Muscleshell, and been told of the one 
white woman, within hundreds of miles, who still 
hved, while her scalp adorned the lodge of a Sioux 
brave. Or they were shown the coohe in which 
thirty brave wood- choppers and wolfers attacked a 
hundred Indians, fighting them the whole day, and 
at last compelling them to run for their hves, leav- 
ing thirty- two good Indians behind them, and only 
two bucks getting away without a wound, while five 
hundred other Indians were yelling and shooting in 
the woods, a mile ofi", too cowardly to come to the 
assistance of their comrades. 

Only those who have hved at Muscleshell, or a 
similar place, can reahze what the hfe of an early 
hunter or trapper was: constant danger, constant 
apprehension. One hving in a country surrounded 
by hostile Indians, feels never at perfect ease. No 
matter what his occupation, his rifle is never beyond 



340 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

his reach. He never goes outside of the door of 
his cabin or lodge without being armed caj) a pie. 
His eye is constantly watching for signs of his ene- 
mies. He scans evey bush, rock or ravine, as he 
approaches them, for fear an Indian may be lurking 
behind them. He camjis in places where unob- 
served approach is difficult. He puts out his camp 
fire at dark, let the weather be ever so cold, lest 
he should become the mark for the rifie-bullet of a 
skulking savage. His nerves are strung to the 
highest pitch : the slightest noise awakes him ; and 
yet, in spite of all this, there is an indescribable 
something about this wild life, this untrammeled 
freedom of the limitless prairies, which has a charm 
for even educated men, and whoever has once tried 
it, looks always back to that period of his life as 
having given him a freshness of enjoyment and 
feeling, which he has never since experienced. 

On the west and south, Eastern Montana is 
bounded by mountains, and a few detached masses 
are scattered through its northwestern part. These 
mountains are well timbered with pine and fir, and 
from them issue numerous streams, abundantly 
watering the adjacent country, which is covered 
with a magnificent growth of bunch grass, making 
the finest imaginable stock range, except during the 
deep snows of winter, when it becomes necessary 
to drive the stock some distance from the high 
mountains, where the snow rarely falls, to any 
great depth. 

After leaving the mountains some fifteen or 
twenty miles, the country begins to change in 
character. The vegetation loses its luxuriant fresh- 




MONTANA LAKE BY MOONLIGHT. 



i542 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ness, the rank growth of grass and tall weeds found 
along the base of the mountains, settles down into 
an open growth of bunch grass, ten to fifteen inches 
tall, with the habit of steppe, vegetation of moun- 
tains the world over, growing in tufts, leaving the 
ground visible between. 

Except during May and June, the grass looks 
yellow and withered, apparently without life or 
strength. Few or no streams rise in these plains; 
some springs trickle out of the hillsides here and 
there, but few of them form permanent brooks; 
they are generally absorbed by the thirsty soil after 
running a few hundred yards. The permanent 
streams ran in comparatively narrow valleys, the 
grassy, rolling table lands rising in easy swells on 
either side, except where the underlying sandstone 
appears, and forms a steep bluff against the river 
valley. Timber is scarce. 

Along the streams is a narrow fringe of cotton- 
wood and willows, and where the prairie assumes a 
more broken character, and the bed-rock crops out, 
we find generally a scanty growth of fir, pine and 
cedar. Along the large rivers, such as the Mis- 
souri, Yellowstone, Powder and Tongue, grow large 
groves of immense cottonwood trees, interspersed, 
east of the 106th meridian, with ash, box-elder and 
oak. Their valleys are several miles wide, with a 
rich, black soil, but immediately back of these val- 
leys rise singular " bad-land" bluffs, five or six hun- 
dred feet high, giving a very forbidding aspect to 
the country, to any one ascending these streams. 
The "bad-lands" extend back only a few miles, 
however. Climbing up their loose, crumbling sides, 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 343 

almost without vegetation of any kind, it appears 
that they form only the escarpment of the table 
land. The wash has been so great that all the sur- 
face soil has been worn away, exposing a sterile 
sub-soil seemingly incapable of sustaining any kind 
of vegetation. The summit of the table land is 
again of the nature of the country already described; 
a rolling, grassy plain. 

This apparently dead and sere grass is the richest 
of pastures. This part of Montana will never form 
a thickly- settled farming country. The river val- 
leys will all be cultivated, and sufficient grain and 
vegetables will be raised to supply the home de- 
mand. "In the scattered settlements of the Yel- 
lowstone," says a journalist of Helena, "actual 
experience has shown that good crops, of all kinds, 
may be raised without irrigation, and as the grow- 
ing season is much longer than in the mountain 
valleys, we will probably, in a few years, draw our 
supplies of tender vegetables and fruits from the 
Yellowstone, as Missoula will supply Deer Lodge 
and the Western Slope." Grapes and plums are 
growing wild in abundance throughout the Crow 
reserve, and extensive orchards are now being 
planted along the north bank of the Yellowstone. 

Mineral deposits are found everyv^here in the 
mountains, and as soon as the Indian question be- 
comes sufficiently settled to make thorough pros- 
pecting possible in the Big Horn Mountains, there 
is every probability that rich discoveries of the 
precious metals will be made. Indications of gold, 
silver and copper, have been found in many places, 
but as long as the discoverer would not be per- 



344 Lli-^E IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

mitted to profit by his discoveries, there are, of 
course, few inducements for the prospector. Coal- 
bearing strata abound everywhere. Along the Mis- 
souri, the Yellowstone, the Powder River — in short, 
wherever a large stream has cut down, exposing the 
strata — coal seams may be seen ; but as there has 
not hitherto been any use for coal, the mines are, 
of course, undeveloped. 

It is as a stock-raising country, however, that 
Eastern Montana is destined to take very high rank. 
Only within a few years has it been possible for 
stockmen to take their herds east of the Belt range. 
It is but three years since Indians raided every 
summer, up to the very outskirts of Bozeman. 
Such was the condition of the country at the time 
of our visit. No one then dared to travel ten miles 
east of Helena without being armed to the teeth, 
and every year people were killed in the immediate 
vicinity of the Capital. Now a daily line of coaches 
runs undisturbed, the whole length of the Yellow- 
stone valley, and people travel alone and unarmed 
from here to Miles City, eating their dinners every 
day, and sleeping every night in a comfortable farm- 
house. Already, however, is the nearest accessible 
country, filling u]) rapidly. Stockmen are pushing 
their way down the Muscleshell and the Yellow- 
stone, and, in the north, up the Highwoods and 
along the Teton and the Marias. Eastern capital- 
ists are waking up to the fact that the bunch grass 
of the plains holds a surer fortune than the uncer- 
tain bonanzas, and companies are forming to raise 
cattle and sheep on a large scale. It may be confi- 
dently predicted that in five years from to-day, one- 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 345 

may traverse this plains country in any direction, 
from the Canon of the Big Horn to the alkahne 
bottoms along Milk river, or from Bozeman to Bis- 
marck, with herds of cattle and sheep constantly in 
sight. As a grass country, all this immense tract 
is far superior to the lands lying between the Union 
and Kansas Pacific Eailroads, and Montana cattle 
are to-day favorably known in Eastern markets, as 
being of equal grade and in as good condition as 
those coming from Colorado, Nebraska or Wyom- 
ing. Only one thing can prevent, or at least retard, 
the prosperity of Montana in the near future. That 
is unwise legislation by Congress. Signs are abund- 
ant that great land-grabbing schemes are afoot. 
The present cry is that while#our land system did 
very well in the agricultural States, it is entirely 
unsuited to the grazing country of the West. This 
is undoubtedly the case, if it is the best policy of 
the government, to dispose of these lands. They 
cannot be sold in tracts of 160 acres, nor of one 
square mile. If they are to be sold at all, it must 
be in lots of dozens or hundreds of square miles, and 
the larger the lots are made the easier it will be to 
sell them. But the result of this would be highly 
detrimental to the Western Territories. The sum 
for which all this land could be sold would be very 
small, a few cents an acre, barely covering the cost 
of parceling it out, and ultimately a few hundreds of 
wealthy men, or companies, would own scores of 
thousands of square miles. No; let the agricultural 
land along the water courses be surveyed and dis- 
posed of in small lots, as at present, under the 
homestead and pre-emption laws; but revoke the 



846 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

desert-land act, at least for Montana, and leave the 
grazing land as public domain, open to the widow's 
one lamb, as well as to the wealthy man's thousands 
of cattle. In that way it will take but a few years 
before all the land will be utilized. Every available 
acre will be cultivated-, and thousands will find com- 
fortable homes where we will find only a few rude 
cow-boys, or half-Indianised shepherds, making for- 
tunes for Eastern capitalists, if the land is thrown 
upon the market in large tracts. 

For tourists Eastern Montana has considerable 
attractions. The strange "bad lands" along the 
principal rivers are a unique feature in the land- 
scape, while the scenery along the Upper Missouri 
is grand beyond description. The Big Horn Moun- 
tains on the southern border are probably the most 
picturesque range tn the United States, and the 
whole region affords splendid hunting and fishing. 
Here is the last stronghold of the buffalo. These 
animals cannot now be found in such numbers as 
ten years ago, when the tourist could travel from 
Muscleshell to Milk River, 75 miles, through an 
open rolling country, without ever being out of rifle 
shot of the buffalo. They covered the plains as far 
as the eye could reach, and the grass was cropped 
as closely as if sheep had been pasturing there for 
months. But as long as any buffalo herd is in exis- 
tence, it will be found on the open prairies along 
Milk River, and when they are completely extermi- 
nated on the plains, the last stragglers will probably 
seek a refuge among the almost inaccessible crags 
of the Big Horn Mountains. Antelope abound every- 
where, while large herds of elk are found throughout 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 347 

the western part. They were so abundant along the 
Yellowstone in former times, that the Indians named 
this stream Elk Eiver. Black and white tail deer 
fairly swarm in those places, where they have not 
been hunted too much, and all the mountain streams 
are alive with beaver and otter. If the hunter wishes 
a spice of danger in the chase, he will not have to 
seek long before finding a grizzly bear or a moun- 
tain hon. 

Arapooish, a Crow chief, in a letter to the weU- 
known fur trader, Robert Campbell, says : 

" The Crow country is a good country. The Great 
Spirit has put it exactly in the right place ; while 
you are in it, you fare well; when ever you go out 
of it, which ever way you travel, you fare worse. If 
you go to the south, you have to wander over great, 
barren plains ; the water is warm and bad, and you 
meet the fever and ague. To the north it is cold; 
the winters are long and bitter, with no grass ; you 
cannot keep horses there, but must travel with 
dogs. On the Columbia, they are poor and dirty, 
paddle about in canoes and eat fish. Their teeth 
are worn out, they are always taking fishbones out 
of their mouths. To the east they live well, but 
they drink the muddy water of the Missouri. A 
Crow's dog would not drink such water. About 
the forks of the Missouri is a fine country; good 
water, good grass, plenty of buffalo. In summer 
it is almost as good as the Crow country, but in 
winter it is cold; the grass is gone, and there is no 
salt weed for the horses. The Crow country is 
exactly in the right place. It has snowy mountains 
and sunny plains ; all kinds of chmates, and good 



348 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

things for every season. When the summer heats, 
scorch the prairies, you can draw up under the 
mountains, where the air is sweet and cool, the 
grass fresh, and the bright streams come tumbhng 
out of the snow banks. There you can hunt the 
elk, the deer and the antelope, when their skins are 
fit for dressing ; there you will find plenty of white 
bear and mountain sheep. 

"In the autumn, when your horses are fat and 
strong from the mountain pastures, you can go 
down into the plains and hunt buffalo, or trap bea- 
ver on the streams. And when winter comes on, 
you can take shelter in the woody bottoms along 
the rivers ; there you will find buffalo meat for your- 
selves, and Cottonwood bark for your horses. Or 
you may winter in the Wind River Valley, where 
there is salt weed in abundance. The Crow Coun- 
try is exactly in the right place. Everything good 
is to be found there. There is no country hke the 
Crow Country." 

And Arapooish was about right. His country is 
a good one, and unless the Crows learn to make a 
better use of it than at present, they must soon 
yield it to those who will appreciate it for something 
besides its game. It is almost the last untrodden 
wilderness left in the United States ; but even that 
being invaded by advancing civihzation, and when 
we turn to the map of America, ten years hence, 
names of towns, villages and settlements will dot it 
so closely, that nowhere, throughout the Great 
Northwest, will the map-maker find a vacant spot, 
where he can write the oft-repeated words — " Great 
American Desert." 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 349 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

stock Raising — Mineral Resources of Montana — The First Mining Ex- 
citement — A Reminiscence— Road Agents— Famous Gold and Sil- 
ver Mines — Treasui-e Repositories of this Country. 

It is fortunate for Montana, that immense coal- 
"beds underlie portions of the Territory, for coal wiU 
soon have to supply the place of wood, for fuel, as 
the forests are disappearing, under the enormous 
consumption of timber, by the towms, mines and 
mills. Helena, alone, consumes 30,000 cords of 
wood, annually, to say nothing of the requirements 
of the lumber trade. 

In the vicinity of the capital, there is a coal-mine, 
now yielding immense quantities of bituminous 
coal, and mines of iron, tin and copper, have also 
been opened. 

The certainty of results has rendered stock-rais- 
ing a favorite pursuit in Montana. Young men and 
many miners, who manage to accumulate a few 
hundred dollars, find investments in cattle and 
sheep very profitable. They place their stock in 
charge of ranchmen and give themselves no further 
trouble or care about the matter. Before they are 
aware of it, they become rich by the increase and 
Talue of their herds. 

There are millions of acres in the foot-hills, which 
wiU supply food for milhons of cattle, for centuries, 
but are good for nothing else. The pursuit of agri- 
culture will continue to be the leading industry of 
Montana. 



350 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Each declivity of the mountains, has a chinat& 
peculiar to itself. The west side is favored with 
dews and rains. Frost does not visit it as early as 
the east side. Some crops mature better than in the 
eastern valleys, but in the production of the great 
staples, there is but little difference on either side of 
the main range. The average yield of wheat is forty 
bushels to the acre. Agriculture is a different sci- 
ence in Montana from what it is in the States. The 
ranchmen can tell exactty what is needful to insure 
large crops, when and how to irrigate, when to 
plant and when to glean. The Territory has twenty- 
three miUions acres of agricultural and sixty mil- 
hons acres of grazing land. The entire agricultural 
population of Montana, at present, will not exceed 
eight thousand. Immigration, alone, is needed for 
the full development of all the elements of prosper- 
ity. The entire population of the Territory, base 
confident hopes upon the early completion of the 
great Northern Pacific Road. There is a feehng, 
everywhere, that Montana is soon to be brought into 
near neighborhood with the rest of the Union, and 
that her unequalled resources, will be appreciated 
by the world. 

The manufacture of woolen goods will, no doubt, 
become a great industry in the Territory. Water 
power is abundant, and the wool is at hand; it is, 
also, reasonable to predict that, at no distant day, 
Montana will compete with other localities in the 
manufacture of shot, white lead, and other heavy 
articles largely used, for the production of which 
the crude material abounds in the Territory in quan- 
tities sufficient to supply the whole world. 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 351 

The U. S. Surveyor-General, for Montana, says, 
of the mineral wealth : 

"No reliable estimate can be made of the value 
of the vast mineral resources of Montana. The 
richest placer-mining ground in the comparatively 
settled portions of the Territory, has been worked 
out, but new diggings are constantly being discov- 
ered, and there are immense areas of placer ground 
which will pay a handsome profit whenever labor 
can be procured at from $1.50 to $2.00 per diem. 
Quartz mining is stiU in its infancy, and it is only 
within the last year that sufiicient developments 
have been made at several of the most prominent 
mining camps — notably, Butte and Phihpsburg — to 
prove the permanence and value of the ore deposits. 
Considering her isolated condition and the great ex- 
pense of the reduction of ores and transportation, 
Montana's product of precious metals has been 
very large. In the near future it wiU be greatly in- 
creased, and it is not an extravagant prediction 
to say that within ten years it wiU equal that of 
Nevada." 

During the year 1879, quartz mining in gold was 
unusually active ; a large number of new and valu- 
able leads were discovered, and many new mills and 
arastras were erected. Eich discoveries have stim- 
ulated old prospectors to new efforts, and new 
"finds" are constantly reported. Present indica- 
tions omen a rapid growth of the quartz mining 
interests. Neither prospecting nor development of 
mines has been thus far prosecuted with the thor- 
oughness characteristic of Nevada, Colorado or 
Black HiUs operators, and yet it is true that the 

/ 



352 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

main range of the Rocky Mountains has here, as in 
other parts of America, rich lands of gold-bearing 
quartz. The Semple district, near Helena, imme- 
diately upon the summit or divide of these moun- 
tains, embraces a large tract of country, in which 
the most remarkable veins of quartz have been dis- 
covered wdthin a year or two. This district shows 
the greatest progress of any in the Territory. Sil- 
ver quartz mining is now attracting special atten- 
tion. The great eagerness for gold, in times past, 
led to a neglect of silver mining, but recent eff c^rts 
in this department have been prolific of grand re- 
sults. At the mining camp, Butte, the greatest ac- 
tivity prevails. Here, marvelously rich mines are 
located, and producing immense quantities of silver 
bullion. Philipsburg and Glendale are opening up 
finely, and the present rich prospects warrant great 
expectations of large returns from these places. 
In Jefferson County, exceedingly rich leads have 
been discovered. The poorer and baser silver 
ores have been utilized by the erection of smelters 
in Butte and Wickes, in Jefferson County. These 
ores formerly had little value, owing to the high 
rates of transportation. 

A second " Leadville ' ' and a second " Black Hills " 
gold mine, within an hour's ride of Helena, are re- 
ported. The mines of Summit Valley district bid 
fair to rank among the best in the land. It is esti- 
mated that there are already 200 paying mines de- 
veloped in the camp. 

The largest single nugget of gold discovered in 
Montana in 1879, weighed 47.80 ounces, with a fine- 
ness of 957, free from quartz or dirt, a solid mass of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 353 

gold, having a value of f 947. 77. Many nuggets 
varying in weight from a half ounce to 28 ounces, 
were also found during that year. 

The first mining excitement in Montana, began 
in 1863, with the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch, 
upon which Virginia City is situated. A party of 
prospectors from Bannock City, had been to the 
Yellowstone Eiver and Big Horn Mountains, where 
they met with hostile Indians, who finally drove 
them back. The party divided, some going South, 
toward Salt Lake City, and the others returning to 
Bannock. On reaching Alder Creek, the latter 
stopped for dinner, and while the meal was in pre- 
paration, one of the number panned out a little of 
the gravel. The first panful yielded thirty cents, 
and subsequent ones f 2. As soon as the discovery 
became known, there was an immediate stampede 
to Alder Gulch from all parts of the Territory, and 
a httle later, from all parts of the country. At first 
the product was from $100 to $200 a day, for each 
man, and in the first five years after its discovery, 
Alder Gulch and its tributaries, yielded on an aver- 
age, eight 7niUio7i dollars a year. The total product 
to the close of 1876, was more than seventy millions. 
In 1879 it was $600,000. This Gulch was the richest 
-ever discovered in the world. 

The most noted placers in those days were Last 
Chance, where Helena now stands, " Confederate," 
"Silver Bow," "Ophir," and "German" gulches, 
"Elk Creek," "Bear," "Lincoln," "Nelson" and 
" Highland" gulches, and " New York," " Cave" and 
"Montana Bar," and numerous other places as far 
west as Cedar Creek, in the Coeur d' Alene Moun- 



354 LIFE IN THE WILD^ OF AMERICA, 

tains. In the fall of 186G, a four mule team hauled, 
to Fort Benton, for transportation down the Mis- 
souri River, two and one-lialf tons of qold^ worth 
one and a-half million dollars, nearly all of which 
was taken from Montana Bar — a piece of ground 
only a few acres in extent — during that summer. 
There has been altogether shipped from Montana, 
at least one hundred and fifty million dollars in gold 
dust. 

The best paying mines at present are the " Penob- 
scot," "Blue Bird," "Belmont," "Hickey," "Glos- 
ter" "Piegan," " Whippoorwill," and extensions of 
the " Snow-Drift" near Helena, "Bonanza Chief," 
eight miles from Helena, and others all over the 
Territory from the great " Cable" lode on the west, 
to the " Iron Rod" and other rich mines in the 
Trapper and Bryant district on the South. There 
are greater bonanza kings among the Silver men, 
than among the gold gentry of Montana. The 
"Lexington," and the "Ahce" are very rich mines. 
There are a hundred silver leads at Butte — the Sil- 
ver City of Montana. 

In earlier times we heard and read a good deal 
concerning the "Road Agents," an organized band 
of murderers and robbers, who infested the moun- 
tain passes, and way-laid the miner, as he sought a 
market for his hard-earned nuggets, or a place for 
obtaining supplies. Many an adventure and en- 
counter with these outlaws has been reported. 
Many a time have they brought the stage coach to 
a halt, and robbed it of its treasure, and the passen- 
gers of their money and valuables. Occasionally 
they "caught a Tartar" and paid for their termerity 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 355 

and crime with their hves, but they were too gen- 
erally successful with private individuals. Later, 
treasure was transported under the protection of a 
military guard, but the system of robbery and mur- 
der set at defiance the officers of justice; till at 
length an organized committee of safety, known as 
the Vigilants, took the matter under consideration 
and made short work with the outlaws whenever 
captured. A strong rope and resolute men, without 
a single citation from Blackstone, or other authority, 
suppressed the murderous practice very speedily. 
A strong rope, a stout limb and strong arms proved 
most effectual. Helm, Gallagher, Parish, Lyon, 
Stinson, and a few others, were summarily hung, and 
the Eoad Agency being deemed by those engaged 
in it, quite too perilous an undertaking, the rascals, 
fled the country. 

There are fluvial or fluviatile silver mines — depos- 
its by water or washings of rivers; glacial silver 
mines— deposited by glaciers; and silver deposits 
from other causes. True mountain-fissure silver 
mines were lifted when the mountain chain in 
which they occur, was Hfted, by a force, deep-seated 
in the earth's molten central body, and so were 
formed, with the aid of concurring and succeeding 
events ; the veins, necessarily reaching back to the 
then surface of that molten body, and hence, may 
be regarded as inexhaustible. 

Silver mining is not an industry originating in 
modern times. It reaches as far into antiquity, at 
least, as written history. Silver was used largely, 
in Abraham's time, in the days of Moses and Solo- 
mon, in all Jewish time, and among the ancient Ro- 



356 LIFE IN THE WILDS OP AMERICA, 

mans, Greeks and Egyptians. There were silver 
coins 895 years B. C. The mines of Spain yielded 
wealth to almost every nation of antiquity. The 
Carthagenians employed 40,00() men in these mines, 
and the Romans employed more than half that 
number in the same work. A distinguished Ger- 
man family took out over three millions pounds. 
Hannibal took, from one mine, half a million a year. 
Cato, as much from several mines, and Helvetius 
twice as much. It is stated by Pliny, that Cyrus 
obtained, by his Asiatic conquests, an amount equal 
to 7,720,000,000 pounds. Vast amounts were obtained 
as tribute. Herodotus says the nations subdued by 
the Persians, except the Indies and Antioch, paid a 
yearly tribute, in silver, of about three millions 
pounds. For fifty years after the second Punic war, 
the conquered city paid an annual tribute of nine 
thousand pounds of silver. Rome contained im- 
mense quantities of this precious metal. 

As early as the twelfth century, silver mining be- 
gan in various parts of Europe, and the mines then 
worked have been yielding ever since. The Saxon 
Kings were for centuries, the richest monarchs of 
the world, and, now, in their vaults, are immense 
amounts of silver. 

Pliny states that in his time, silver mines in Spain 
were penetrated a mile and a-half. One mine in 
Hanover is worked, to the depth of 2,600 feet. 

All readers are aware of the great wealth of South 
America, in silver and gold, when the new world 
was discovered, and the extent to which the 
Spaniards and others plundered those countries. 
According to Prescott, Prince Atahualpa, made 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 357 

prisoner, gathered, to pay for his hberty, the value 
of three and a-half miUion pounds of gold, and 51,- 
610 marks, or about 25,805 pounds of silver. Their 
temples and noble palaces were lavishly ornamen- 
ted with articles of these metals. Three beams of 
silver, each twenty feet long, one foot broad, and 
two or three inches thick, intended for a country 
seat in process of construction, were found by the 
soldiers of Pizarro. One of their great silver mines 
is the "Pasco." From the year 1781 to 1827 the 
Pasco woVks smelted 4,967,710 pounds, troy, of silver. 
The value yielded in 1851, was about 400,000 pounds 
sterhng. Both mining and reducing has there always 
been done in the most primitive and wasteful man- 
ner. In 1852, not less than 4,165 of their valuable 
mines were idle, and only 66 in actual operation. 
Notwithstanding the neghgence, and primitive and 
wasteful modes of mining, by the people of South 
America, the silver mines in Bolivia and Peru 
yielded, from the period of their discovery to the 
year 1845, a quantity equal to 155,839,180 pounds. 
The grand "Potosi" of Bolivia was discovered in 
1545, since then it has given to the world two hun- 
dred and forty milhons pounds of silver. In Chih, 
not less than 1,750,000 pounds of silver were mined,' 
between 1846 and 1853. 

Attention began to be directed to the silver mines 
of Mexico, about as early as to those in South 
America. The wealth of the Montezumas is gen- 
erally known. In the early period of the history of 
Mexican mining, according to the estimate of Baron 
Von Humboldt, the mines of that country pro- 
duced about haK a milhon pounds per annum. Dur- 



358 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ing the 18th century, says Lamborn, the production 
gradually rose to 4,000,000 pounds per annum. This 
yearly sum decreased during the war of Indepen- 
dence, but within the last ten years, it appears to 
have been higher than ever before, having, accord- 
ing to the most reliable accounts, reached five mil- 
lions pounds sterling, per annum. Humboldt's 
Essai Politique, states that the mines of Mexico, of 
only a few central spots, yielded not less than ^2,- 
027,952,000, between the date of the connuest and 
1803, and yet, mining and reducing have always 
been as crude in Mexico as in South America, and 
the almost perpetual condition of war, has, of course, 
utterly prevented mining operations much of the 
time. 

The statistics of silver mining in Mexico and 
South America, notwithstanding the primitive and 
wasteful methods of work, and the negligence of 
miners, are especially interesting and instructive to 
the people of the United States, since the silver 
mines of the Andes and of the Rocky Mountains, 
including the Cordilleras of Mexico, are all of the 
same great chain, and were formed by the same 
grand upheaval. 

In the United States, the precious metals, as the 
baser metals and coal, are largely concentrated, un- 
der many circumstances that favor mining, beyond 
the experience of any other country. In the hght 
of history, as well as the teachings of geology, these 
silver fissure mines are seen to be practically inex- 
haustible — at least for many centuries. The pre- 
cious metal products of the West are not much less 
than two thousand miUions of dollars. It is stated 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 359 

that the Pacific coast of North and South America, 
inckiding Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, have 
given to the world one-half of all the gold and silver 
in it, and an amount equal to all the gold and silver 
coin in the world, excepting China and India, and 
yet a great deal has been lost by imperfect reduc- 
tion, and much has not entered into general statis- 
tics. The yield of the Pacific slope of this country, 
was, in 1872, $70,230,914; in 1873, $80,287,436, and 
in 1874, $100,000,000. The increase has been mainly 
of silver, and the whole, to 1875, was $1,681,386,186, 

Colorado — though her silver mines were first dis- 
covered in 1865, and only at a single spot, and the 
mining area expanding ever since, is yet very small, 
and for several years great difficulties were en- 
countered — sent out to the world in less than ten 
years $53,217,603 — not estimating the large part of 
the product sent for reduction to other countries 
and States and that part taken aw^ay by private 
hands, or which has entered into local properties and 
built up local fortunes — some of which have been 
immense. 

Silver mining began in Utah, in 1870, and yet her 
silver product in 1874 was over seven millions of 
dollars. 

In 1874 the mines of California gave to the world 
seventy-two millions of dollars of gold and silver. 

Over the vast areal extent of the mountains, most 
mines are, of course, distant from road and other 
facilities; the veins do not everywhere reach to, or 
even near, the surface, and they do not all, nor does 
the same vein its entire length, begin the rich ore 
at uniform depth ; it follows that the cost and time 



360 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

required to reach ore, are not everywhere the same. 
But experience shows that whenever true silver, 
Rocky Mountain veins, are penetrated to proper 
depth — some very great — the rich ores are reached, 
and, in the main, increase in richness and quantity 
in the ratio of the progress downward. Every year 
adds proofs of the United States Commissioner's 
statement — Vol. 1872 — that "mining the precious 
metals is now not only more profitable, but it is also 
more safe than any other of the leading industries," 
and in Yol. 1873 — that "the treasures of these Terri- 
tories are not exhausted, — on the contrary, they 
have hardly been discovered." 

As already observed, geology teaches that silver 
of the fissure mines could have come only from the 
molten centre, and that the fissures were opened by 
tension below, and that, therefore, the veins reach 
for miles of depth — deeper than man can ever go. 

1^0 industry is more legitimate, profitable or safe, 
than that of precious metal mining in this country. 
From antiquity to the present time, it has been re- 
garded, by intelligent people, as at least among the 
most legitimate industries. The great mining schools 
of Europe show that it is so regarded there. These- 
rank among the best institutions of learning. In 
Austria, old miners are pensioned by the govern- 
ment. The same views, concerning the legitimacy 
of the business in the West, are entertained, cer- 
tainly, by those who are informed concerning it. 
There is not, never was, and never will be, any gold 
or silver of any considerable amount, not obtained 
by mining, and that the world demands these preci- 
ous metals, and in pretty large quantities, too, wa- 
sh aU see. 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 



361 



We send gold and silver out in every direction,, 
annually, to China, over seven millions of dollars, 
to Japan, ten millions, and large amounts to every 
other^ country where our tiag goes. In the ten years 
—from 1863 to 1873— our bullion exports, exclusive 
of mail, amounted to |885,865,184. In 1873, to over 
eighty-four millions of dollars. During the ten 




IlN THE MOUNTAINS. 

years from 1862 to 1872, we increased our indebted- 
ness to England to the extent of $1,760,000,000; aU 
indebtedness to foreign countries must be paid in 
coin. The Bombay Chamber of Commerce reported 
that for the previous six years, India had absorbed 
an annual average of eleven and-a-half milhon 
pounds sterhng of silver. India's silver-absorbing 
power is said to be almost unhmited, and the quan- 



362 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

tity in Oriental countries never increases. Vast 
quantities are used for ornamental purposes. How 
to supply "the drain of specie to the East," is re- 
garded by experts as an unmanageable problem. 
General business, and a thousand things besides, at 
home, continually require more. Every home has 
more or less silver and gold, solid or plated. A 
single American factory uses from one to two tons 
of silver weekly, in plating table-ware. In 1871, the 
amount consumed in the arts, in the United States, 
was over sixteen million dollars. Everywhere are 
gold and silver — solid, plated, or washed, and con- 
stantly these beautiful and useful metals are carried 
out of the country, lost on land or in the sea, worn 
and wasted away. 

The demand for the precious metals increases 
with the growth and general prosperity of the people ; 
and all, or nearly all, must be supphed from our 
mines. No other industry than gold and silver min- 
ing has, in so short a time, within so small an area, 
and witli so few people as producers, built up and 
established so great and profitable a business, given 
to the world so much wealth, or made individual 
incomes so immense. 

"Experienced miners know very well," says a 
well-informed journalist, "that silver mines of much 
value are only found in mountainous regions, where 
the indications are beyond a doubt. Volcanic 
agencies have, in some remote period, been exerted 
on a gigantic scale. Thus, in Mexico and the rich sil- 
ver leads of Utah, the evidence of an upheaval force 
that elevated extensive ranges of frightfully rugged 
jnountain ridges from profound depths, are so pos- 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 363 

■sible and probable, as to be admitted at sight, even 
by those who have no scientific quaUfications for 
guiding them to that conclusion. It seems that 
silver is thrown up from a vast depth in the earth, 
where, from the quantity commingled with rocks in 
a condition of liquefaction, the quantity from which 
that on the surface was derived must be in great 
abundance in its primitive state below. Scarcely 
more than superficial scratchings characterize silver 
mining in the West. For thousands of years to 
come, those bold, hard, bleak mountains will be the 
scenes of human industry and skill, in pursuit of 
that which wiU make commerce thrive over the 
whole world." 

Most of the greatest silver mines reach high 
elevations. The great Potosi, that has yielded over 
a thousand millions, is worked at a height exceed- 
ing that of Mont Blanc, and " Pasco" at the height 
of 14,000 feet. Most of the best of Colorado silver 
mines are at an altitude of from 8,000 to 12,000 feet 
or more above the sea, yet in the vicinity of fertile 
parks and unfailing streams. The silver mines of 
Colorado, Montana and Idaho, are believed to be 
the great mother veins of the continent, in extent 
equal, and m richness superior, to those of Mexico. 
Wherever in any part of the world, silver mines 
have been worked, they may be now ; no true fissure 
mine has ever been exhausted. The whole business 
of silver mining consists in breaking down the ore 
— having penetrated the earth — roUing it to the 
mill, and reducing it. 

Black sulphuret of silver is among the richest 
ores. In the process of stoping or breaking down 



364 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

this ore, which easily crumbles, falls with the rest, 
but sifts in considerable quantities to the floor, 
there mixes with the loose rocks and is lost, espec- 
ially where workmen fail to take proper precautions. 

Improvements in silver mining have reduced ex- 
penses about one-half, but have not been able to 
overcome the water in mines, worked by shafts. 
Often in such, the water gains on the pumps, — even 
the most powerful, so as to stop the taking out of 
ore for weeks, and no skill can prevent recurrence 
of such stoppages. The improvements, — railroads 
and other conveniences, and superior skill of the 
workmen of our day, secure great advantages that 
the early Western miners did not possess. 

Providence has blessed our country above all 
others, with the most magnificent profusion of min- 
eral wealth. 

Besides railroad connections, Montana has the 
Missouri Eiver, which is navigable to the foot of 
the Great Falls, and open seven months of the year 
to steamers, with a channel that has recently been 
greatly improved, and extended above the Falls; 
after a portage of about 16 miles, a good boating 
river extends 200 miles further, directly into the 
very heart of the Territory. 

It has been proposed to establish a new military 
post about half way between Fort Bufort and Assi- 
niboine, near the Canada line, in the path of the 
Sioux, who come from Canada. It will probably be 
located at Wood Mountain. If this should be es- 
tabhshed and Assinniboine completed, the defences 
of the Territory against hostile Indians wiU be 
ample. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 365 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

Fair Margins— Up the Yellowstone— A Visit to the Trappers' Camps— 
An Untrodden Wilderness— Night Visit from an American Lion— A 
Party of Indians— Their Habits and Costumes— The Indian's Love 
of Country— Hunters' Life— A Thrilling Adventure— A Grizzly Bear 
—Hostile Indians Warning the Trappers— Trapping Expeditions, 
Etc. 

Capt. Jolinson, master of the Elliott, had an eye 
to business, and had contemplated leaving St. Louis 
fully two months prior to the date of our departure 
— which had been delayed, for reasons already given 
— and he had, in pursuance of business and the ex- 
pectation of making it profitable, provided a full 
supply of everything that would pass current among 
the trappers and Indians, such as guns, pistols, 
knives, axes, ammunition, clothing, provisions, fan- 
ciful cahcoes, beads, looking-glasses and, as auc- 
tioneers say, " merchandise too numerous to men- 
tion." It was his purpose to sell these things to 
the trappers and Indians at a "fair margin," and 
take in exchange for them, the furs and hides that 
his customers had accumulated, and to make an- 
other "fair margin" upon the articles so taken. 
There are traders who sometimes take "unfair 
margins," so it is written, and I am not prepared to 
-say that Johnson was not one of them. 

The fact that the Blackfeet and Crow Indians 
were becoming hostile to the trappers on the Yel- 
lowstone, induced the captain to make the trip up 
that stream, before ascending the Missouri. Our 
party consented to the proposal. 



366 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Passing up the Yellowstone, we did not make a 
permanent landing till we reached the month of 
Powder Eiver, — which rises in the Big Horn Moun- 
tains, in the central part of Wyoming, and flows in 
from the southwest. Powder River is about three 
hundred miles long and a quarter-of-a-mile wide. 

At this point two parties were formed, for the pur- 
pose of visiting all the trappers' camps above the 
head of navigation on the Yellowstone and its afflu- 
ents, and notifying the trappers of the proximity of 
the steamer, and the fine opportunities presented 
for trade and transportation. It was arranged that 
one party should proceed up the north bank of the 
Yellowstone, and the other up Powder River, to the 
neighborhood of Fort Phil. Kearney, and then, after 
crossing the Big Horn Mountains, descend the Big 
Horn River to its confluence with the Yellowstone. 
The latter was an undertaking of considerable im- 
portance. Barstow, Warrington and I chose to ac- 
company the expedition. 

A trapper, who visited the boat just before we 
started, expressed the opinion that there was immi- 
•nent danger to be apprehended from the ill-disposed 
savages, but our plan had been determined; and 
the first party, accordingly, set out, — all well armed. 
We rode with them through the narrow strip of 
timber that skirted the river. Reaching the open 
prairie, we took leave of our friends, who, undaunted 
by the discouraging remarks of the trapper, went 
gaily onward. 

As we emerged from the dark woods the fohage 
of which had not yet faded or fallen, with the ad- 
vance of the season, we beheld a land of beauty. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 367 

A level plain, more than a mile in width, covered 
v/ith verdure, was succeeded by an elevation so 
gentle and regular that it presented an unobstructed 
view for nearly a score of miles. To the right, and to 
the left of us, the timber-line presented many miles 
of beautiful curves. Herds of elks and antelopes 
were seen grazing undisturbed, like cattle upon a 
meadow. An occasional grove dotted the surface 
of the prairie, and altogether the scene was one of 
placid beauty, most remarkable. 

Eeturning to the steamer, we crossed to the op- 
posite bank of the river, and pursued our untrodden 
way amid the wilderness. Following the course of 
the Powder River, we pitched our first camp at the 
mouth of the Mixpah — a creek that flows in from 
the west. Game being abundant, we were soon 
supphed, and after picketing our horses and arrang- 
ing for the night watch, we repaired to our tents. 
The stillness of the night was occasionally broken 
by the hooting of an owl, the sharp barking of a 
fox, or the dismal howhng of a wolf. At midnight, 
Nichols and Carrigan, who were on guard, detected 
the sound of a stealthy step, approaching in the 
rear of our horses. Peering into the depths of the 
forest, nothing save the sombre precincts could be 
seen by the dim light of the moon, but, suddenly, 
a scream, at once the loudest, longest, and most 
terrible ever heard, echoed on the still night. We 
were all quickly astir. Our horses were greatly 
frightened. Another moment, an American lion, 
the most ferocious of all our forest animals, except 
the grizzly bear, had fastened its terrible claws 
upon one of our pack mules. The poor beast reared 



368 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and plunged desperately in his efforts to rid himself 
of his enemy, but without avail. Hastily springing 
to the spot, we placed the muzzles of our guns 
almost against the breast of the panther, and fired 
with deadly effect. As soon as the mule was re- 
lieved of his foe, he uttered the most unearthly 
sound. 

"Faith, an' if ye had done that a little sooner, 
d'ye see ! " said Carrigan. 

The next morning we went forward to a trappers' 
camp, on the river. The trappers were glad of the 
opportunity offered, and began at once to make 
preparations to transport their peltries to the boat. 
The trappers are a hale, hearty, happy and hospit- 
able class of people. While we were at this camp, 
a party of Grosventre Indians, about twenty in 
number, passed, in the direction of the village, 
which was eastward on the Little Missouri. There 
were several women and children in the party, all 
of whom rode a la clotlies-'pin, and were very expert 
of the management of their fleet httle ponies — more 
notable for fleetness than for beauty ; "'braves " with 
their guns across their knees, and squaws with their 
pappooses bound on their backs in little baskets, 
which greatly resembled bark quivers. Some of 
these squaws were very comely in appearance, and 
one of them, in particular, was pronounced by War- 
rington — a man of great taste, as we know, very 
pretty, and was evidently so regarded by the young 
man, who rode just in advance of her. She may 
have been a bride on a bridal tour, for ought we 
know. The Indian belle before she retires greases 
her hair and face with liquid marrow from a bone ; 



AJfD WONDERS OF THE WEST. 369 

the hair is then braided, — in the prevaihng style, no 
doubt. In this manner the squaws of the Sioux, 
Cheyenne and some other tribes wear theirs ; in the 
morning, the Indian maiden undoes the braid of 
the evening, which has given to her hair a wavy 
appearance, and permits it to faU about her shoul- 
ders. Frizzes have not yet come into vogue. The 
prevailing style of face painting is to make a general 
application of chrome yellow with finishing touches 
of vermiUion, but often only a little rouge is em- 
ployed. Her dress, other than the indispensable 
blanket, ordinarily comprises buckskin leggings and 
moccasins and a cahco dress — sack pattern, with an 
opening for the head, and with short, flowing sleeves. 
" I suppose," says a very sensible writer, "we have 
but the faintest conception of the strength of the 
Indian's attachment to the country he has long fre- 
quented. The white man loves the haunts of his 
childhood. In the earliest years of his hfe, Nature 
is the play-fellow of the child, his intimate friend 
and his teacher. His converse is with trees, grasses 
and flowers, with clouds and skies, zephyr and gale, 
brook, river and ocean, hiU, mountain and meadow, 
with mellow sunhght, with calm and queenly moon 
and solemn stars. The living things have also been 
taken into the companionship by the child, or have 
in one way or another, borne close relation to liis 
interests. But as the white child approaches ma- 
turity, he exchanges the simple and poetic pleasures 
ministered by Nature, for the pursuits of busy life. 
These too often remove him from the contemplation 
of Nature, and almost smother the memory of the 
influences she shed upon his opening mind. 

24 



370 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The Indian, on the other hand, is all his life in 
intimate communion with Nature, attent to all her 
voices and observant of all her moods. Through all 
his years he is, as much as in his childhood, devoted 
to the study of the outer world, and dependent upon 
this pursuit for all pleasures analogous to those 
which we derive from poetry, art, and all the re- 
sources of refined society. The world is his gallery 
and library, and God the author, the poet, the artist. 
Therefore, that part of the world, in which he was 
born and Hved and ranged, he loves with passionate 
affection, and reverences with superstitious awe. 
We cannot wonder at this. The least attractive 
landscapes present many phases of beauty. Even 
sandy plains and mountains of bald and rugged rock 
appear in the blue distance, or when variegated by 
hght and shade, or glorified by the rich tints of 
sunset, unspeakably beautiful. But all the attrac- 
tive scenery of this wide continent has lain under 
the eye of the Indian. The lakes, rivers, moun- 
tains, woods and plains have been his delight, and 
he has loved them better than we love. When in 
grand forest, sunlight and wind playing with the 
tree tops, wove golden lace work on green or sombre 
ground; where the bird sang and timid creatures 
browsed, the Indian made his hunting-ground and 
home. Here he hved and roamed, when the woods 
were decked with dew drops ghttering in summer 
sunshine, or briUiant with the ice gems of winter." 

The hunter finds strange fascination in the wild 
life he leads on the great plains and on the Rocky 
Mountains. Two results, I think flow from hfe in 
the open air, — man gains a real and desirable sesthe- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 371 

tic culture, and he thus develops self-rehance and 
strength. The hunter battles with wind and storm, 
braves many forms of danger, and becomes manly 
and self-poised. A hardier, more robust, manlier 
class of men than you find in mountain hut in all 
this region from British America to Mexico, you 
may challenge the world to produce. Nearly all 
these men are Americans. The superior enterprise 
and boldness of our people are apparent in aU this 
frontier land. 

The wild hfe of the West is as full of every ele- 
ment of interest and of danger, and far freer than that 
of the sailor. Nature exerts a strange powder upon 
these wild, brave men. They are obliged to observe 
her in all her aspects, by day and by night, and they 
become enamored of the freedom of the lot that 
affords them such sweet fellowship with her. It is 
a mistake to beheve the Indian incapable of feeling 
the same speU. He is in a high degree susceptible 
to the influences of Nature. 

A certain Indian village built upon a high butte 
or mesa in Arizona, is remote from water and from 
the lands tilled by its inhabitants. By instructions 
from Washington, the agent of the tribe to which 
the village belongs, used every inducement to per- 
suade the people to build a new town near the water 
and the grain fields. " Our fathers dwelt upon this 
hill and saw from it the yellow sun; here we, too, 
wiU live and die." This was the final answer. The 
Moquis of that village continue to this day to carry 
from a distance in earthen jars, the water that sup- 
phes their home. Similarly the roving tribes are 
attached to their hunting grounds. 



372 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The next morning we were again upon our way, 

in the valley of the Mixpah. Toward night we 

-crossed the Divide on the east, and again descended 

into the valley of the Powder Eiver. Our attention 

was attracted hy a small herd of buffaloes, feeding 

upon the plain, about a mile to our right. Merid- 

^eth and Hervey, neither of whom had ever been very 

■successful in killing buffaloes, resolved to try their 

luck, and agreeing to meet us at a trapper's camp, 

■situated between the forks of the Big and Little 

Powder Elvers, they started off. We reached the 

camp an hour before sundown, and w^ere received 

with the hearty welcome which might have been 

expected from this ever hospitable class of people. 

Night came and passed, but our companions had 
not arrived. Toward noon of the next day we went 
in search of them, being accompanied by several of 
the trappers. We followed our trail back to the 
spot where we had separated from our friends ; then 
turning to the right, we followed their trail. The 
buffaloes had fled, in solid column, to a range of 
Tocky hills, that extend to the river. One of the 
trappers suggested that in the hills, grizzly bears 
were numerous, and that the missing men might 
have chosen to try their luck with a grizzly, that 
by bringing in a bear's foot, they would redeem 
their reputation as expert hunters. 

Passing onward to the hills, we found that the 
men had pursued the buffaloes hither. These hills 
are not formed into ridges and slopes, but are iso- 
lated, cone-shaped elevations, separated by numer- 
ous deep hollows, that seem to interlace in the 
manner of net-work. Here the rocks rise on either 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 373 

side in perpendicular walls, three or four hundred 
feet high and form dark and gloomy canons. 

We had advanced about a mile into these hills — 
which cover an area of about twelve or eighteen 
miles in extent — when we came to a place where the 
trail separated into two forks. We were assured by 
the trappers, and by our own hunters, whose pow- 
ers of observation certainly seemed very wonderful 
to us then, unskilled as we were in woodcraft — that 
all the buffaloes, with a single exception, had turned 
abruptly to the left and passed down a dark defile 
in the direction of the river, while one which had 
been pursued by the horsemen, had kept directly on 
in a westerly direction. 

We had gone about hah a mile further, when we 
espied a full-grown grizzly bear, feasting upon the 
carcass of a horse. We were now seriously alarmed 
for the fate of our lost friends. After picketing our 
horses at some distance from the place where the 
bear was, we cautiously advanced to attack the ani- 
mal. Upon near approach, it was observed that the 
bear had evidently appeased its hunger and was now 
lying upon the ground. When within about thirty 
yards of him, one of the hunters hurled a stone at 
him. At this he quickly rose from his position, 
glaring upon us and uttering fierce and angry growls 
and appeared most formidable. He was lean, and 
the loss of large patches of long hair and fur, to- 
gether with his attitude and open jaws, all combined 
to render him an object of terror to those of us who 
had never before been placed in a similar position of 
peril. The beast started towards us, but a well-di- 
rected ball from oui' hunter's rifle instantly brought 



374 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

him to the earth, and a volley of bullets riddled his 
body. It was one of the largest of the species. 

We discovered the carcass of the buffalo which 
had taken this direction, and we later came to the 
spot where our friends had passed the night. It 
was in a deep chasm, between high, perpendicular 
walls of rock — a level of small extent. We fired 
oar guns repeatedly and shouted as loudly as pos- 
sible, but the echoes of our voices was the only an- 
swer that came back. We continued the search tiU 
night, following the trail through many an intricate 
and gloomy canon, into which the sun's rays never 
penetrate, and we encamped in the best locality we 
could select, but which was dismal enough. It be- 
came very evident that our companions had lost 
their way, and had been unable to extricate them- 
selves from the labyrinth. 

The next morning, we were early astir, and fol- 
lowing the trail which led across the divide in the 
direction of Tongue River, through the grizzly hills ; 
at length we came to a level slope, along which the 
trail ran in an easterly direction. We had pro- 
ceeded but a short distance along the foot of the 
hills, when we were startled by loud yells, which we 
recognized as those of Indians. 

It required but a few moments to bring us to the 
scene of action, when the whole situation was re- 
vealed at a glance. Immediately in front of us was 
an open space, and beyond this was a perpendicular 
rocky wall, facing the north, about thirty or forty 
feet in height, and perhaps half a mile in length. x\t 
the foot of the waU, and at an acute angle which 
formed a shelter on the right, Merideth and Hervey 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 375 

liad posted themselves, while a score of Indians 
were menacing their position, and yelling like so 
many devils. Just as we arrived in sight, and 
while we were yet unperceived by either friends or 
foes, the hostile band divided, nearly half the num- 
ber riding rapidly in our direction with the inten- 
tion, evidently, of charging upon our friends' left. 
The Indians swung round in a graceful hand gallop, 
till they were within fifty or sixty yards of us, and 
at a point directly between us and our friends. 
They never even looked in our direction, their at- 
tention being fixed upon their intended victims. 
The Indians could have shot the men had they 
chosen, but it was evident that for some reason, 
either for inflicting great cruelties or retaining 
them as hostages, they chose to capture them alive. 

The savages had little in fact to fear from the 
men, for they each had but a single round of am- 
munition, and this they had resolved to hold till 
the last moment, and sell their lives as dearly as 
possible. The band being divided by the last 
named manoeuvre, it was a favorable moment for 
our party to appear, and dashing forward with deaf- 
ening shouts, and violent demonstrations, we pre- 
sented ourselves between the parties. The Indians 
were taken by surprise and without a fatal shot by 
either side, the Indians dashed away with the fleet- 
ness of a herd of startled deer, and vanished as 
quickly from sight, as a village of prairie dogs, at the 
sound of the hunter's rifle. The savages had doubt- 
less exaggerated our nunil)ers and deemed discre- 
tion the better part of valor. 

Our companions were most agreeably surprised 



376 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

by our timely ajipearance. As we had surmised^ 
they had lost their reckoning, and were in the piti- 
able plight of being destitute of ammunition, or 
provisions, surrounded by hostile Indians, and by 
ferocious wild beasts. 

We started on in the direction of the trappers' 
camp, as it w^as imperatively necessary that the- 
companions of our trapper guide, should at once be 
warned of the proximity of hostile Indians ; and it 
was also necessary for our own safety, that w^e 
should move forthwith and with great caution, in 
order to avoid attracting the attention of the In- 
dians, who, we confidently believed, were assembhng 
in large numbers in our immediate neighborhood, 
and would attemjit to intercept our return to the 
camp. It now lacked but a quarter of an hour to 
sunset. As soon as the shadows of night should 
fall, we could move with comparative safety from 
the Indians, as they will rarely engage in a conflict 
at night, however small the number of their ene- 
mies. 

Pushing on as rapidly as possible in a southerly 
direction, we soon entered the Grizzly Hills. It 
was a moonless night, but the little stars shone 
brightly, and by the starlight we were able to 
pursue our way. Soon we reached the bed of a 
small creek, which fortunately for us was dry ; fol- 
lowing its course, which led between towering walls 
of conglomerate and calcareous rocks, we came to 
a pool of clear, cold water, of which we were in 
great need, but alas, for appearances, the water was- 
so salt that neither men nor horses could drink 
of it. 



378 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

It was early dawn, when we stopped for that rest 
we so much required. On either side, the waUs 
of a gloomy canon rose to dizzy heights above 
us. It was a comparatively safe retreat. After a 
few hours of repose we pursued our toilsome march, 
and at length arrived at the trappers' camp. 

Trapping expeditions are usually organized under 
the direction of some trapper of great experience, 
and one who has some capital, as it becomes neces- 
sary for him to furnish outfit to the improvident 
members of the expedition. These are, however, 
frequently the best men in the party, when they 
have at last established their quarters near the 
haunts of the beaver ; but when among dissolute 
companions, in some western frontier towns, their 
money shps through their fingers. Some of it is 
expended for the vilest whiskey, but the larger part 
generally finds its way into the pockets of the gamb- 
ling thieves, who haunt all the places, to which our 
trappers resort, and hang over their victims like 
birds of prey, until they have fleeced them of their 
last cent. 

Trapping expeditions varj^ in size, from two or 
three, to thirty or forty individuals, and occasionally 
a hardy and daring mountaineer will, to use his 
expression — "go it on his own hook." Sometimes 
the members of an expedition share equally with 
each other. Sometimes, like sailors in the whaling 
service, the trappers have their "lays" or shares, 
greater or less according to skill, experience and 
position. As soon as the expedition has arrived at 
the proper locality, and "signs" are observed, the 
traps are at once set, and business begins. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST, 379 

The aninial, the fur of which is the most valuable 
and the most eagerly sought by the trapper, is the 
beaver — Castor Americanus. The fore feet of the 
animal are armed with powerful claws, which enable 
it to burrow in the earth and also to climb with fa- 
cility, and to hold any object he may propel through 
the water to his dwelling. Their hind feet are pal- 
mated or webbed like those of a goose, and by this 
pecuharity of structure, they are enabled to move 
through the water with great celerity. The tail is 
elongated and flattened horizontally like a trowel. 
With this most useful and cunning part of the body, 
he mixes the mortar used in his dwelling, carries 
the mortar upon it, and uses this natural trowel in 
the building of his abode. The beaver is gregarious, 
hving in villages, which sometimes number five or 
six hundred animals. Their dams are remarkably 
ingenious contrivances, and are frequently of great 
length. They are usually built obliquely across the 
stream, to present a greater resistance to it. 

The traps in which the beavers are caught, are set 
under the water. The common steel trap is most 
generally used in their capture. Great caution must 
be exercised in setting the trap, and he who per- 
forms the task, must expose himself to the icy chilli- 
ness of the water. 

Among the men, who have visited the region in 
which we now find ourselves, are Kit Carson, Brid- 
gers. Grant, Young, Fitzpatrick and many others, 
whose sagacity and hardihood, have won great repu- 
tation for them. 



380 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Preparations for Trading with tlie Trappers— Following a Trail — In- 
dians on the War-Path — Hasty Departure — Fort C. F. Smith — 
The Mountains of Wyoming — An Inaccessible Mountain Range — 
Mountain Sheep — Departure of the Steamer — A Trapper's State- 
ment — A Day of Trouble — An Indian Plot — A Little Act of Gener- 
osity Rewarded — A Long Journey — Wild Animals. 

Our arrival at the camp was most opportune. The 
large number of trappers assembled there, were very 
anxious to dispose of their furs, of which they had 
large quantities, and when informed of the fact that 
the boat was lying at the Rapids, on the Yellowstone, 
and that they might there dispose of their entire 
stock, and obtain in exchange goods, of whatever 
kind they might desire, arrangements were at once 
made to transport it all to that point. 

Many of the trappers had cached their furs, in the 
belief that search would be made for them by the 
Indians, and it became necessary to visit these de- 
serted camps to exhume and pack the furs. From 
the manifest dissatisfaction of the Indians, and the 
hostility ah-eady evinced by them, it was probable 
that collisions would occur between them and the 
trappers, during their journey to the river. 

We left the camp in company with the trappers, 
and during the whole of the first day proceeded in a 
northeasterly direction, stopping at noon only long 
enough to rest our horses. Toward night, two of 
our scouts came in, and reported that they had found 
the trail of a small war party, which they behevei 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 381 

to have been made by Blackfeet Indians, who had 
pursued a southerly course. 

Among the most wonderful things connected 
with Western hfe, is the great skill and re- 
markable powers of perception, which experienced 
trappers display in trailing. In this branch of their 
caUing, they attain a proficiency that is most sur- 
prising. They not only readily distinguish between 
the trails made by wild animals of various kinds, 
and by the Indians, but they can, with unerring cer- 
tainty, determine the very tribe to which the latter 
belong; and not only this, but they as readily dis- 
tinguish between the war and hunting parties of 
any particular tribe, and accurately determine how 
old any trail may be, whether made by man or beast, 
so preternaturally keen do their senses become, by 
the habit of close observation. 

Our course was in the direction of the Tongue 
Eiver, a tributary of the YeUowstone. We en- 
camped upon its banks, but before the hour for re- 
tiring, one of our scouts reported that there was a 
village of Blackfeet Indians, less than a mile dis- 
tant. As these Indians were known to be on the 
war-path, we deemed it prudent to depart forthwith. 
While we were bringing up our horses, a second 
scout came in, with the intelhgence that the Indian 
village numbered about thirty lodges, located in a 
large grove of cottonwoods, and that the band, in- 
cluding probably fifty warriors, were engaged in one 
of their wildest revels. We mounted our horses and 
started off in the direction of Fort C. F. Smith. 
The probabihty that a large body of hostile Indians 
would soon be upon our trail, added celerity to our 
steps. 



382 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Fort C. F. Smith is located on Big Horn Eiver,. 
about fifty miles above its confiuence with the Yel- 
lowstone. To reach it from the point at w^hich w^e 
had at last encamped, would require a journey of 
seventy miles, directly off from the route to the 
Rapids; the trappers preferred to incur the perils 
to w4iich they might be exposed in proceeding di- 
rectly thither, rather than to go so far out ol their 
way to obtain an escort, w^hile w^e preferred to go to 
the fort, and, therefore, after a hurried consultation, 
three of us took our leave of the brave little com- 
pany, and proceeded on our way. We reached the 
fort at sunset of the third day, and were received 
with marked consideration by the officers in com- 
mand. Here, Barstow^ met an officer, formerly of 
Major Hatch's battahon, with whom he had, sev- 
eral years ago, formed a very agreeable acquain- 
tance at Manitoba, and fortunately for us, this 
officer was about to proceed with dispatches to Fort 
Phil. Kearney — in the Big Horn Mountains, of Wyo- 
ming, to which point w^e also desired to go, and w^e, 
therefore, accompanied him, arriving there after a 
toilsome journey of nearly five days. 

In grandeur and sublimity, the mountains of Wy- 
oming are unsurpassed by any on the continent. 
We gaze with rapture upon a landscape of undulat- 
ing hills covered with a rich growth of waving, 
golden grain, and the eye foUow'S with enthusiasm, 
the tiny silver brook that winds along its borders ; 
but the contemplation of the massive rocky walls, 
that tower above you to the dizzy height of thous- 
ands of feet, awakens in the soul a deep sense of awe 
almost of trepidation. These awe-inspiring heights 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 383 

upon which we now look, are the mountams of Wy- 
oming, with their snow-capped peaks, leaping cas- 
cades, and picturesque valleys. 

" It would seem," says Rousseau, " that, in rising 
above the habitations of man, we leave behind all 
low and earthly sentiments, and in proportion as we 
approach the etherial regions, the soul contracts 
somethmg of their unalterable purity. " " All natural 
phenomena," says Saussure, '"there present them- 
selves with a grandeur and majesty of which the 
inhabitant of the plain has no idea. The winds and 
aerial electricity, act there with an astonishing 
power. Clouds are formed under the very eye of 
the observer, and he sees a tempest break out un- 
der his feet, which devastates the plains, while the 
sun is shining around him, and the sky is serene 
and clear over his head." 

Raymond thus apostrophizes the grand mountain 
peaks : 

" Deserts of mountains, you, like the ocean, set 
the boundaries of nations ; you have your part also 
in the continual circulation of its waters ; you com- 
pel us to bow down before the imposing spectacle 
of your grandeurs ; but how much less terrible is 
your majesty, and how^ restful for weary man is its 
contemplation! You fill all souls with the subtle 
influences of a splendid domain which is metamor- 
phosed at every step. You vivify and you calm. 
What pure and beneficent enjoyment you confer! 
What hving and eloquent proof you furnish, of the 
littleness of the idols which luxury has in honor 
among men, when you spread out before them the 
immensity of your perspectives and the severe mas- 



384 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

ses of your eternal pyramids ; when man sees from 
your sunnnits, the smoke of great cities, rise here 
and there from countries which cringe at your feet. 
What architect could ever imitate your magnifi- 
cence, and where are the treasures that could re- 
ward him? All the sons of men joining in the work, 
could not build a single tow^er as high as your hum- 
blest peaks. 

The elder nations, setting you apart from the 
rest of the world, considered you the only w^orthy 
dwelling-place of the gods, and indeed your peaks, 
half hidden in the clouds, seem hke signals spring- 
ing from the earth to point out to man the road to 
heaven. Nature alone is capable of breaking the 
monotony of the globe by such edifices, and without 
asking the slighest aid from us, she has herself, 
opened the doors of your valleys, as if she took 
pleasure in calling men to the temples in w^hich she 
appears to them, with so much power and beauty. 
In my admiration, therefore, it is of little conse- 
quence that these sublime heights are impassable 
walls ; I boldly rank them among the most precious 
gifts that the human race owes to the beneficence 
of the Creator." 

"The most powerful European nations are nour- 
ished on the slopes of mountains, and all those 
great national migrations, which, in the course of cen- 
turies, have changed the political face of the world, 
and have exerted the most influence upon the des- 
tinies of the human race, have gone out in sight of 
their eternal snows." 

The Big Horn Mountains, in the neighborhood of 
Port Phil. Kearney, extend through nearly two 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 385 

■degrees of latitude. The range forms the Divide 
between Powder and Big Horn Eivers, and culmin- 
ates in Clouds' Peak, whose lofty summit is cares- 
sed by the fleecy folds that float lazily through the 
air. Other peaks of less note, raise their pondrous 
crests to vast heights and look down upon the low- 
her hills. 

Numerous creeks and rivulets flow from lofty ele- 
vations and pour adown the jagged chffs in cascades 
of beauty. These and the numerous valleys, glens 
and grottoes, form a picture grandly beautiful and 
sublime. 

In the western part of Wyoming, the Wind Eiver 
Mountains rise in subhmity of proportion, till they 
pierce the clouds. Fremont's Peak, the monarch of 
the range, rises to the height of 13,750 feet ; and 
other peaks of lesser importance also attain high 
altitudes. This remarkable range is everywhere in- 
accessible to the foot of man. Numerous exploring 
expeditions have vainly attempted to cross it. Col. 
Eeynolds' expedition was turned back by it in 1859, 
and Bridgers, who accompanied the expedition, de- 
clared, that "a bird can't fly over that ridge with- 
out taking a supply of grub along." 

One of the most interesting animals that inhabit 
this region, is the agile and pretty little creature 
known as the Rocky Mountain sheep— 0ms Mon- 
tana. Like the chamois of the Alps, it dehghts in 
the elevations of the mountain regions, and is fre- 
quently seen on lofty and precipitous heights. Its . 
immense horns present quite a formidable appear- 
ance, but the animal does not rely upon them for 
defence, but rather upon attaining a position on the 



386 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

mountain heights, inaccessible to its pursuers. Al- 
though a diminutive animal, in frequent instances 
its horns are three feet in length, and weigh from 
twelve to fifteen pounds. Its hair is short, smooth, 
and of a light brown color. While slapping from 
height to height, its horns serve as a balance, en- 
abling the agile creature, to maintain its position 
upon narrowest shelves of rock, where it would seem 
impossible to do so. The chase of this httle animal^ 
is attended with the greatest difficulties. It is ex- 
ceedingly keen of scent, and to approach it, the 
hunter must exercise the utmost wariness. 

I recollect the futile efforts I once put forth in 
pursuit of a small flock of mountain sheep. It w^as 
my first experience, and not remarkably successful. 
When first seen, they were upon the extreme point 
of a high and jutting peninsular rock, and I thought 
by approaching them in the rear, there would be no 
difficulty in kilhng at least one of the number. 
After a fuU half hour of toilsome climbing, I found 
myself at the neck of the half insulated rock at the 
farther extremity, of which the sheep had been 
seen. It did not seem possible for the game to 
escape, for the rock was three or four hundred feet 
in height, and the sides were nearly perpendicular. 
Creeping cautiously along, I caught the glimpse of 
one, as it whisked around the sharp angle of a rock 
about a hundred yards away, and he, the most tardy 
of the flock, had disappeared in a twinkUng. As I 
clambered with greatest difficulty down the steep 
dechvity, I began to doubt my ability as a success- 
ful chamois hunter, but I had the satisfaction of 
knowing, that none of my companions had ever 
been more successful in pursuit of this animal. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 387 

We spent several days in the neighborhood of 
Fort Phil. Kearney, which is located at the head of 
Clear Fork, — a tributary of the Powder River — and 
then started upon our return to the Yellowstone. 
Arriving at the Rapids, what was our chagrin and 
disappointment, to find that the EUiot had left her 
moorings, and was not to be seen. We could only 
surmise the cause of her departure, but after riding 
for some distance along the river bank, we fortu- 
nately met a trapper, who confirmed our suspicions. 

It appeared from his statement, that the men who 
had been sent out to collect the furs of the trappers 
had proceeded in the performance of their duties 
with great celerity and success; that the river 
banks in the vicinity of the boat, soon presented a 
most animated appearance. Mule after mule was 
reheved of his burden, and day after day business 
continued brisk and satisfactory to all parties. The 
captain, no doubt, congratulated himself upon the 
" fair margin " he had made in every instance. But 
there came a day of trouble. The Indians having 
learned of his operations, presented themselves in 
considerable numbers, but though they coveted the 
pretty things they saw, they brought neither peltries 
nor valuables of any sort, although lavish of prom- 
ises of payment at a future time, should the great 
white chief choose to credit them ; but Chief John- 
son, thinking that a beaver's skin in the hold of his 
vessel, was " worth two in the bush," dechned their 
proposals, but made a few worthless presents — so 
utterly valueless, that even the Indians scorned to 
receive them, and with quick, but careful scrutiny 
of everything on board the steamer, went away, but 
only to perfect their designs for capturing her. 



LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

There can be no doubt they would have exe- 
cuted their designs, pillaged and burnt the steamer, 
and massacred all on board, but for timely informa- 
tion and warning. Among the Indians who came 
to solicit credit or presents, was a young Indian 
girl, who was delighted by the sight of a small mir- 
ror, which Mr. Merideth held in his hand, but, un- 
hke the others of the party, she merely admired 
without asking for it, or for anything else. This 
peculiarity was noticed by Merideth, and he not 
only gave her the mirror, but a gaudy bead neck- 
lace, and several other ornaments, one of which was 
a showy scarf. This simple act of generosity saved 
the lives and property of all on board, for at twi- 
hght the next evening, a single Indian presented 
himself on the steamer's deck, and, showing the 
scarf to establish his identity, said that he was the 
father of " Sunbeam," to whom the scarf and other 
presents had been given, and then hurriedly ex- 
posed the plot of his people to attack the steamer 
at midnight. He had risked his own life, to attest 
his gratitude to the white men. 

The company offered him money, and valuable 
presents, but he looked upon the things with in- 
difference without speaking a word. Thinking that 
they had not found a suitable gift, they bade him 
choose for himself, but with a dignity of manner 
that gave emphasis to his words, he said in the 
Sioux language: — "I did not come for presents," 
and turning proudly away, quickly disappeared in 
the forest beyond the river's bank. What a lesson 
to white men, who regard the Indian only as an 
animal, devoid of sentiment or human feeling ! 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 389 

Within an hour, the steamer was on her way 
down the river. The trapper whom we had met 
had been charged with the duty of informmg us 
upon our arrival, and the trappers generally, of the 
occasion for the ^abrupt |departure of the steamer 
for Fort Benton. 

A long and tiresome journey was before us. It 
became necessary to proceed at once, overland to 
the fort. The distance we had to travel was nearly 
three hundred miles, through a country, the scenery 
of which is as varied as it is beautiful, grand and 
sometimes the reverse. Our course was northwest, 
and as we passed up the slope from Pow^der River and 
looked back over the broad expanse of rich, produc- 
tive land lying below us, and away in the distance, 
a scene of beauty and magnificence was presented, 
rivaling in picturesqueness any that we had hither- 
to seen. 

Down, down, down in gently sloping, undula- 
ting surface, the meadow land rolled in placid 
beauty, till broken by the dark-green line of forest 
trees that fringed the river banks, and then on, on, 
on with a never ending up, that seemed to unite 
earth's emerald hues with heaven's imperial blue. 
And as the landscape passed away in the distance, 
it rose in wave-like elevations, nearer and nearer 
the skies, presenting an aspect of indescribable mag- 
nificence and beauty. 

Beyond the river, a beautiful lake lay smiling and 
glistening beneath the autumn sun, and around the 
borders of this gem of the prairies, hundreds of 
mountain willows were seen, with their slender 
branches and silvery leaves, coquetting with the 
western breeze. 



y9() LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

As I glanced over the ricli landscape, and drank 
in the exquisite beauty of the scene, I felt that the 
poor, untutored red men were perfectly justifiable 
in their futile attempts to preserve those charming 
fields for themselves, and for their children forever. 
But westward is the course of empire, regardless of 
the divine rights of the children of the forest, who 
recede before advancing civilization, as do the deep- 
ening sombre shadows of night, before the first rays 
of the rising sun. Not many more years will pass, 
ere the ancient prophecy of the old Indian seer will 
be fulfilled, and the death-song of the last warrior 
will be sung on the golden shores of the broad Pa- 
cific. As, in the long ago, the Mound Builders, in 
the West, gave way to the more vigorous red men 
of the forest, so will the latter, in turn, yield their 
inheritance to the stronger and more cunning arm 
of the white man. And as the Indian, in the vigor 
of his manhood, pursued the fleeing deer thought- 
lessly over the unnoticed graves of his predecessors, 
so will the white man gather his corn and bind his 
sheaves over the unknown grave and dust of the 
Indian. 

On leaving Powder River, we went forward in the 
direction of old Fort Sarpy, on the Yellowstone, 
which we reached without accident or adventure, 
and where we halted for two days. Fort Sarpy is 
about thirty-five miles below Big Horn City, situ- 
ated at the confluence of the Big Horn and Yellow- 
stone Rivers. A large extent of territory in the 
vicinity of the Fort, is not surpassed by any on the 
route for beauty and fertility. 

Leaving the Yellowstone for the last time, our 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 391 

course lay across the country, in the direction of 
the head-waters of Judith River, down the wild, 
picturesque and interesting valley of which we pro- 
posed to make our way. As soon as we passed over 
the high, rolling ridges of the Muscleshell country, 
from the Yellowstone, we found an abundance of 
antelopes and other wild game, such as I never saw 
equalled in any other region. There is probably no 
portion of the United States, that furnishes any- 
thing hke the deer-shooting that is found in Mon- 
tana to-day, and the same may be said of elk, moose, 
bear, buifalo, antelope, mountain sheep, wild geese, 
ducks, brant, grouse and other small game. 

Moose was frequently seen, indeed we sometimes 
saw at least forty in a day. The broad and branch- 
ing antlers of this animal — AIcb Americanus — give 
it a most formidable api>earance. When wounded, 
or pursued by dogs, and at bay, the moose is a dan- 
gerous adversary, as it will not then hesitate to 
attack the mounted hunter, and not unfrequently 
impales a less agile horse upon its pointed horns. 
It is the largest and most valuable of the deer species 
of America. 

The famous hunter, John PoUiser, who spent many 
years of his active life upon the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains, and in and about the region of 
"the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, relates many 
remarkable, curious and interesting adventures and 
anecdotes, in connection with this animal,— incidents 
within his experience while following his favorite 
Tocation in this region. At one time his dogs having 
bayed a magnificent male, at the foot of a precipi- 
tous rock, behind which the hunter chanced to be, 



392 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

he cautiously approached the brow of the precipice 
and peered down, to watch the fray between the 
dogs and the moose. 

The rock upon which he was standing, projected 
somewhat over those below, and the moose had 
taken up its position immediately under the over- 
hanging rock. Becoming much interested in the 
manner in which the moose with blows of his feet- 
attempted to repel his enemies, PoUiser incautiously 
stepped upon a loose piece of stone, and in an in- 
stant was landed prone upon his side, immediately 
in front of the infuriated animal. The fall caused 
no serious injury, but the moment the moose caught 
sight of him, it became still more exasperated, and 
attacked him with great violence. The man's life 
was in imminent danger, from blows of the creature's- 
horns. Before he had time to extricate himself, the 
angry beast made a terrific thrust at him, forcing 
one of the sharp points of its powerful antlers en- 
tirely through his arm, just above the elbow, and 
but for the timely aid of his faithful dogs, it would 
doubtless have inflicted fatal wounds upon him, ere 
he had extricated himself from his perilous position. 
The faithful dogs at once sprang to their master's, 
assistance. The hunter recovered his feet, and by 
a dextrous stroke with his long knife, killed the stag. 

The same frontiersman on another occasion, saw 
one of his dogs pierced entirely through the body, 
by a powerful stag that had been slightly wounded, 
and brought to bay by its fleet and tireless jmr- 
suers. The hunter shot and killed the stag. Pol- 
liser's greatest delight was hunting grizzly bears,, 
and many are the thrilling adventures and hair- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



39a 



breadth escapes, still related of him by western 
trappers. 

After leaving the region of the Muscleshell 
Eiver, we passed through an exceedingly wild and 
interesting country, between the Judith and Little 
Belt Mountains, meeting no hostile Indians, and 
after a safe and pleasant journey of fifteen days, 
arrived at Fort Benton. 




394 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Fort Benton — Arrival of the Elliot — The Great Falls of the Missouri — 
Departure of the Elliot — In the Gold Region — The Characters Seen 
There — Off for Idaho— The Snake Desert — The Grandest Cataracts 
of the Continent — Mining Regions. 

Fort Benton is a town of ten thousand inhabit- 
-ants, at the head of navigation on the Missouri. It 
is the oldest town in the Territory. 

We were kindly received by the officers at the 
Fort, and enjoyed their hospitality for three days, 
when, to our great joy, the Elliot arrived. A few 
days later, we visited the Great Falls of the Mis- 
souri — thirty-five miles above Fort Benton. The 
falls are six in number ; the first is the highest, and 
to this point steamers of light draught may ascend. 
The distance from the falls to the Gulf of Mexico, 
by river, is 3,956 miles. 

A sheet of water, more than a thousand feet in 
width, falls a distance of eighty feet, presenting a 
scene of grandeur, once witnessed, never to be for- 
gotten. 

The Missouri is formed by the " Three Forks" — 
the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin. The most 
westerly of these — the Jefferson — rises in the ex- 
treme southern part of Montana, and is the largest 
of the branches. The next in importance is the 
Madison, which rises in the southwestern part of 
the National Park. The Gallatin is the most east- 
erly, its source being in the northwestern corner of 
the Great Park. At slight expense the Missouri 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 395 

can be made navigable above the falls, nearly, if 
not quite to the junction of the three forks. The 
improvement has already been begun. 

The confluence of these rivers was first reached 
July 27, 1805, by Lewis and Clark. The vast ex- 
tent of territory acquired by the Louisiana pur- 
chase, in 1803, included almost half of our extensive 
domain. Scarcely had the transfer of this region 
been consummated, than preparations were com- 
menced for exploring it. An expedition numbering 
thirty-two men, was organized and placed under the 
direction of Capt. Lewis and Lieut. Clark. As 
shown by the success of the enterprise, no happier 
selection of leaders could have been made. 

The expedition left the mouth of the Missouri, May 
14, 1804, and, proceeding up the broad channel in 
three large open boats, arrived on the 27th Octo- 
ber, at the village of the Mandan Indians, situated 
in the great southeastern bend of the river, about 
two hundred miles below the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone. Here they encamped, and spent the winter, 
gathering what mformation they could concerning 
the surrounding country, and the manners and 
•customs of the Indians who inhabited it. On the 7th 
April, 1805, they again embarked on their perilous 
journey. Having freighted several large canoes 
with their effects, they steadily pursued their way, 
toiling successfully against the swift waters of the 
Missouri, and toward the last of the month, en- 
camped at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Many 
thrilling and perilous adventures were experienced 
l)y the travelers as they pursued their way through 
the trackless region. 



396 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Capt. Lewis, at the head of an advance party^ 
was the first to reach the Great Falls of the Mis- 
souri. A few days later, the entire party stood be- 
neath the mighty cataract, and gazed in wonder 
upon it. Immense columns of clouds, rising from 
the basin, grew larger and taller, till finally, meeting 
the rays of the summer sun, they floated away in 
golden splendor over the surrounding hill-tops, 
while the waters surged, foamed and whirled wildly 
as they dashed upon the invisible rocks below. 
Above, around and beneath, the scene was grand 
and sublime. Passing on above the other catar- 
acts, the voyageurs pursued their difficult way 
through the grandest solittades of this picturesque 
region. A few miles above the highest of the Falls, 
they discovered and named the great canon, " The 
Gate of the Mountains." The scene here presented 
was in keeping with the aspect of the strange re- 
gion through which they had passed. For six miles, 
the grand river — a quarter of a mile in width — flows 
through an immense chasm, the perpendicular walls 
of which, rise to the height of tw^elve hundred 
feet. Down ir\to the very heart of the mountains, 
the swiftly flowing waters have cut their way ; and 
still the resistless current rushes on, cutting deeper 
and deeper. 

Lewis and Clark, with their band of explorers, 
were nearly a year and a-half in these western soli- 
tudes. Crossing the mountains, they followed the 
course of the Columbia River, till they met the 
tides of the great ocean beyond. On their return, 
they explored and named many of the smaller 
streams in the vast region, hitherto untraversed by 
white men. 




IDAHO MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 



398 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The period of our engagement with Capt. John- 
son having expired, Barstow, Warrington and I 
took our leave of the pleasant companions of our 
journey, and the steamer left Fort Benton for St. 
Louis. Crossing the Eocky Mountains at Cadott's 
Pass, we proceeded to the gold regions of Montana. 
The hfe of the gold-seeker is one of ceaseless toil and 
ever recurring disappointments. The hopes that 
allure him on — the golden dreams and visions of 
wonderful success in the near future, are but too 
seldom realized ; the fortune he so confidently ex- 
pects to obtain, is never within his grasp; he builds 
and rebuilds airy castles, only to see them again and 
again toppled over by the cruel.hand of adversity. 

The average daily earnings of each man engaged 
in the gold mines of the West, is not over a dollar 
and a-half per day. Fortunes are still made irt the 
gold mines, but they are generally made by men 
who possess large capital, and not often by the pen- 
niless toiler. How much better would it be in every 
way, for young men, and for men at any age, instead 
of thus trusting to chance, to accept a certainty — 
to secure that by healthful toil, for which they strive 
at the expense of all the pleasures of hfe, — at the 
expense of the abridgment of hfe itself, and so gen- 
erally strive in vain. This surety of success is open 
and attainable by all who will, and is found on the 
plains of Montana, of Dakota, of Kansas, Nebraska, 
and elsewhere in the West — not in digging for gold, 
but in guiding the plow and in herding fiocks, not 
in the service of another, but for himself, and upon 
his own broad acres. 

All kinds of characters congregate in the gold 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 399 

regions of the West. One may meet representa- 
tives of almost every type of man under the sun. 
Here are seen the bearded and sunbrowned Euro- 
pean, the almond-eyed Mongolian, and the African ; 
here are men of all nationahties, of all colors, ages 
and dispositions, — men inured to crime from their 
childhood, and other men whose feehngs are shocked 
by the blasphemies of their vile co-laborers, all 
minghng together, and all toihng with one common 
incentive, — the accumulation of wealth. Each 
man of this heterogeneous population is a " char- 
acter." For the sake of loved ones at home, or 
to satisfy ambition, avarice, or perhaps to escape 
the penalty of violated law, the man has become 
a voluntary exile from society. 

A ramble through any of the towns of this region 
that dot the hillsides or line the valleys — or towns 
in any mining region — will reveal scenes that fully 
evidence the fact that a mining community is a 
httle world of itself. 

Here is an enterprising Jew, always on hand "mit 
der sheepest goots," which he is very anxious to 
sell for a very httle money. There is a genuine 
" down east" Yankee, with his ever eager inquiry, 
"Be yeou from New Hampshire? Dew tell!" 
There is the gambler, ready for games and greenies, 
at all hours, by day or night. There is the bluster- 
ing bully, bristling wdth knives and pistols, ready to 
pick a quarrel at any time, and preferring a game of 
fisticuffs to a dinner. There is the genteel loafer, 
who would rather starve than labor. Here is the 
pawn broker and his brother-in-law, who is ready to 
take anything except your soul and body, as collat- 
eral for an advance of a few dimes. 



4D0 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

One peculiar character, who succeeds more easily 
than any other, in adapting himself to all circumstan- 
ces, is the "heathen Chinee." He seems to he singu- 
larly fitted to fill any station, that he may be called 
upon to occupy — always provided that the station 
be a very humble one ; and with the present state 
of feehng by those who know him best, he is not 
liable to be invited to take a seat very high up. 
Whatever the task that may be imposed upon 
^' John" he generally performs it with a ready hand, 
and always goes away satisfied, when he finds that 
there is not the least possible chance of securing 
another one of your coppers — if there is, he will 
cultivate that chance. Heathen John is not over 
particular in the matter of diet. Anything that 
swine would turn from in disgust, may be seen at 
his board, mice or rats, bats or beetles, never come 
amiss, but on the contrary are esteemed as delica- 
cies. He eats anything that he can masticate. 
As a natural scavenger, he is a success ; the hog, 
the vulture, the buzzard or carrion crow, are dainty 
and fastidious creatures compared with him. An- 
other of his pecuharities is his money-making pro- 
pensity ; and he has also the art of keeping it, every 
penny. He never spends his substance in riotous 
Hving — not he. If a dollar finds its way into his 
hand, ninety-nine cents of it will find its way to the 
Celestial empire. 

If we consider the Chinaman in every phase of 
his character, his habits, social capacities and re- 
ligion, we are forced to the conclusion, that although 
he is industrious, he has his "constitutional draw- 
backs ; " his industry is his only good point worth 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST, 



401 



mentioning ; the country would be better off with- 
out him. 

The miners and trappers are proverbially honest 
men, and their "word is as good as their- bond" 
any time. 

After a long, tedious and perilous journey we 
arrived in the Territory of Idaho. 

This region, which now forms the Territory of 
Idaho, was but little known prior to the year 1852, 
when gold was discovered upon the Pend d' Oreille, 
a little river in the extreme northern portion of the 
country, and though these placers were not remark- 
ably productive, the attention of prospectors was 
attracted to them, and to various other locahties, 
but it was not until the rich discoveries, in 1860, 
upon the Oro Fino creek— a tributary of the Clear- 
water Kiver, about a hundred niiles to the south of 
Pend d'Oreille,- that any permanent settlements 
were made. In 1863, a territorial form of govern- 
ment was organized. 

Idaho embraces an area of ninety thousand square 
miles, and is the most mountainous and rugged re- 
gion of any of the Territories. Between the barren 
mountain ranges and along the course of the large 
rivers, there are rich and fertile valleys, which are 
attracting the attention of settlers, but agricul- 
ture will never be the ruling industry of this reg- 
ion ; throughout the Territory much of the land is 
susceptible to improvement by a proper system of 
irrigation. 

"In the arid public lands of the remote West, m- 
cluding Arizona, Dakota, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, 
Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and parts of 



402 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, with Washington 
and the Indian Territories, there are, in round num- 
bers, not less than 900,000,000 acres. Not one per 
cent, of- all this land has as yet been sold by the Gov- 
ernment, and^— adds the journahst, from whose paper 
I quote, — it will not be sold for many years, unless 
some means be found to supply it with water. It 
has been proposed, lately, to sink experimental ar- 
tesian wells on the arid land, in order to irrigate it. 
G-overnment survej^s show that 200,000,000 acres of 
the whole are mountainous, and that they could not 
be rendered fertile with any quantity of water. An 
equal amount of land consists of lava-beds, without 
either soil or vegetation, and of desert plains of 
drifting sand. This leaves 500,000,000 acres of plain 
and valley susceptible of high cultivation, if they only 
had water. But a very smaU percentage of this can^ 
under the most favorable circumstances, be re- 
claimed by using, however efficiently, the rivers- 
and smaU streams, and a great deal now employed 
for pasturage, has such scanty grass, that twenty- 
five acres are often needed for the support of each 
head of cattle. In Colorado alone there are 41,000,000 
acres of such poor land, capable, with proper irri- 
gation, of producing twenty-five to thirty bushels of 
wheat to an acre. The West wants Congress to 
appropriate ^50,000 for boring artesian wells, and it 
is believed by some of the ablest geologists, that the 
wells could be sunk. Private enterprise will not 
undertake the experiment; but, if the experiment 
were once made successful, there would be abundant 
capital to carry on a work, which would prove to be 
of inestimable value." 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 403 

The natural scenery of Idaho, is for the greater 
part, grand and picturesque. 

The Owyhee, Boise and Fayette valleys, are re- 
markably fertile and well- watered. The valley of 
the Wiesser contains not less than two hundred 
thousand acres of excellent farming lands. Camas 
Prairie, the oldest settled region in Idaho, contains 
thousands of acres having an exceedingly fertile 
soil. The Bruneau Valley, which occupies a weU- 
sheltered position, and possesses a comparatively 
mild climate throughout the year, and also contains 
an unhmited extent of exceUent pasturage, is a 
common wintering place for stock, thousands being 
driven to it for that purpose every fall. 

AU these valleys are in the southern portion of 
the State, as is also Bear Lake VaUey — a Mormon 
settlement of five or six thousand people, the lands 
of which are under cultivation. The hiU sides fur- 
nish rich pasturage for the thousands of cattle, 
horses and sheep that roam over them. 

The principal mountain ranges are the Blue, 
Boise, and Salmon River Mountains; the latter ex- 
tend from the western boundary, nearly through 
the Territory, in a southeasterly direction. The 
country is watered by innumerable streams, the^ 
largest of which is Snake River, the course of which 
is semi-circular, flowing along the western boun- 
dary tiU in joins the Columbia River. It winds 
through a vast plain, the most barren, desolate and 
dreary ever seen by man. It is a sage desert, seem- 
ingly covered with the outpouring of a volcano. It 
is a waste so utterly destitute of vegetation, that 
even the wild beasts shun it. 



404 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The river is navigable for steamboats to Lewis- 
ton, four or five miles from Walla Walla, Wash- 
ington Territory, but beyond, it flows through many 
impassable canons. In its course through the inte- 
rior of the Territory, there are several falls of great 
interest, the principal ones being the Salmon and 
Shoshone. The former is a favorite fishing resort 
for the Indians, since the falls prevent the salmon 
from ascending the stream. 

Next to Niagara and the Yosemite FaUs, the 
Shoshone is the most grand and sublime cataract 
on the continent. Here we lingered for hours, 
entranced by the awful grandeur and beauty of the 
scene. We saw the Falls at noon-day, and again by 
moonlight. A sheet of water, one thousand feet 
wide in the narrowest part, falls from a height of 
two hundred feet in an unbroken current, which 
seems like a glistening wall of silver, extending from 
the precipitous, rocky ledge above, to the awful 
chasm below, from which rise fleecy clouds that in 
the sunlight display the beautiful tints of the rain- 
bow, or in the moonlight, glitter like a cloud of dia- 
mond dust — a spectacle of exquisite beauty, amid 
surroundings that are at once indescribably wild, 
weird, picturesque and grand. 

In various parts of the Territory are numerous 
lakes, some of which are singularly beautiful, espe- 
cially the largest — in the northern part of the 
Territory, Lake Pend d'Oreille, from which rises 
Clark's Fork of the Columbia Kiver. This lake is 
navigable for small steamboats. At its southern 
extremity is the first "gold town" or mining settle- 
ment in Idaho — Pend d'Oreille. Northwest of this 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



405 



lake is another, which though smaller, is no less 
beautiful. It is the source of a fork of the Co- 
lumbia. 

Large tracts of the Territory are covered with 
grand old forests, which furnish abundance of tim- 
ber, and in which game in great variety is found. 
In summer, the climate is dehghtful, but in winter, 
the cold is often intense, and though the mercury 
does not indicate a temperature lower than that of 
Minnesota, a greater degree of cold is sometimes 
experienced. The snowfall is also very great, and 
for many weeks causes a suspension of mining 
operations. 

TiU within a few years, the Snake Indians— the 
most savage and daring tribe on the continent, gave 
great trouble to the miners, and thesettlers generally, 
killing individuals whenever opportunity offered, 
and boldly stealing whatever they could lay their 
hands upon, and did not hesitate even to steal 
horses and other property, from the forts. At one 
time, it is said, they carried off horses and mules 
from Fort Lyon, under the very eyes of the garri- 
son, which was too small in numbers to oppose 
effectual resistance. They are now peaceful and 
content upon their reservation, which embraces a 
vast tract of the best land in the western part of 
the Territory, between the Bitter Boot and Blue 
Mountain Kanges, and through which flow several 
streams. 

There is a great difference in the character of the 
several Indian tribes of the northwest, as wiU be 
seen from the report of the Indian agent at Duck 
Yalley: "There are now at Duck Valley reserva- 



406 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

tion, including men, women and children, 1,200 In- 
dians, and, as far as I can ascertain, all Shoshones, 
called by the Indian Department Western Sho- 
shones. There may be some who have Piute blood 
in them, but I beheve they are very few. They, in- 
stead of being the lowest type of cricket eaters, are 
the best class of Indians I have ever seen, and I 
have seen many. They are busy cultivating their 
land, showing great irldustry in that pursuit, as weU 
as in building roads to the timber ground, and to 
Mountain City, ten miles from the reserve. Not 
the slightest disturbance has occurred, and, of 
course, no white man injured or killed. They are 
well cared for by the government." 

Boise City, the capital of the Territory, is situated 
on the north bank of the Boise River, about iifty 
miles from its confluence with the Owyhee River, 
which marks the boundary between Idaho and 
Oregon. It is a growing city, and has a large local 
trade. 

We visited the most important mining regions of 
the Territory, which have contributed largely to 
the treasure of the nation and the world. In many 
parts of Idaho, there is both gold and silver in im- 
mense quantities. 

Crossing the Boise River and the Sage Plains, or 
Alkah Desert, we arrived at the Snake River, into 
which within a distance of a score or two of miles, 
flow as many streams from the Owyhee region, all 
dignified upon the map, with the name of rivers. 
Crossing the Snake River, and continuing our jour- 
ney southward for thirty miles further, we arrived at 
Silver City, ten or twelve miles east of the bound- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 407 

ary of Oregon. This is in all respects a "live" town, 
and though comparatively new, is prosperous and 
enterprising. Here is pubhshed one of the most 
readable and valuable news journals of the great 
Northwest — the Avalanche, ably edited by J. S. 
Hay, Esq. 

The pioneer settlement of this region is Boonville, 
where the early miners pursued their labors in con- 
stant peril from the Indians. Euby City, on Jordan 
■Creek, in the immediate vicinity, and five or six 
miles from the western boundary, though scarcely 
more pretentious than its neighbors in the general 
style of its buildings, has long been an important 
mining town. Here, as in most other places in the 
Territory, placer mining has long since been aband- 
oned for the more profitable quartz mines, which 
have made the name of this region as well-known 
in the East, as it is to the miners of Idaho. 

Ruby is near the bottom of a deep canon. In the 
vicinity are mountain peaks, varying in height from 
six hundred to two thousand feet above the town. 
Some are bare rock, with deep gorges and jagged 
peaks, while others are clothed with timber. One 
of these peaks, known as War Eagle, is five thous- 
and feet above the level of the sea. Here the most 
wonderful discoveries of gold bearing quartz have 
heen made. Upon this mountain, but five miles in 
diameter at the base, hundreds of lodes have been 
located, and many of them have yielded vast quan- 
tities of gold. The large quartz mills here are gen- 
erally owned by Eastern capitalists. The ore is of 
extraordinary purity, and several of the lodes yield 
incredibly large sums. The lodes are all nearly per- 



408 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

pendicular, and most of them steadily increase 
downward in width. Large numbers of Chinamen 
find lucrative employment in washing the crushed 
rock, which has passed through the mills, and from 
which has already been extracted, all the gold that 
can be obtained by the processes thus employed. 

The greater p^rt of the mining machinery used in 
Idaho, is brought from California. Chicago and St. 
Louis machinery is generally used in Montana, Col- 
orado and Utah. From the summit of War Eagle 
Peak, we looked down upon the lower hills and 
upon the Snake Valley, stretching for miles away, 
and as far as the eye could reach, we beheld the 
dim outlines of towering mountains. 

The tunnel of the Oro Fino mine extends . hun- 
dreds of feet horizontally; then at the terminus- 
there is a perpendicular shaft, one hundred and 
eighty feet above, by which the daylight enters. 
The walls of the mine are granite, smooth and well- 
defined, from two to seven feet apart. The ore is 
nearly w^hite. and some of it is as soft as wax, and 
may be easily cut with a knife. 

A mineralogist, who is well informed concerning^ 
the mining interests of Idaho, in speaking of the 
Salmon River country, says: "It has remained for 
that vast region of Central Idaho, which our latest 
map-makers still insist in making 'unexplored coun- 
try,' to develop mammoth ledges, traced miles upon 
miles, whose silver ores are as rich as those in the 
narrow ledges of Arizona, and far more so than 
those of Leadville, to duplicate Black Hills Moun- 
tains of native gold ores, so fabulously rich that we 
are slow to believe the proven truth, and to unite 



AND "WONDERS OF THE WEST. 409" 

with these fascinations, grand forests, many fertile 
valleys, broad grassy feeding-grounds, for herds to 
come, and enchantments of scenery, game fields 
and trout streams, fresh and probably unrivalled. 
It will, in all probability, be the scene of our next 
great mining stampede, one not second even to the 
Leadville furore. It is already a prominent buUion 
producer." 

The Salmon Eiver region comprises Yankee Fork, 
Wood Eiver, Saw-Tooth, Bay Horse, Yellow Jacket 
and other districts, — an area of twenty thousand 
square miles in the heart of the Territory. The 
region is bounded on the north by the main range 
of the Eocky Mountains, on the east and south by 
the great lava-plateau of Snake Eiver, and on the 
west by the Boise and other mountain ranges, long 
since explored and mined. Its eastern edge is 150 
miles west of the Utah and Northern Eailway, and 
its southern boundary reaches within 200 miles of 
the Central Pacific Eailroad. The Oregon division 
of the Utah and Northern Eailway is projected to 
cross a valuable belt at the southern end of the re- 
gion, and wagon roads already penetrate its best 
developed and apparently richest sections, in the 
centre and at the northern edge. The country is 
far less isolated or difficult of access, than the public 
generally suppose. 

Salmon Eiver, a deeper, clearer, and a far more 
turbulent stream, than the Susquehanna, gathers 
its volumes from dozens of tributaries in the high 
mountains of this region. The Wood Eiver, several 
large affluents of the Boise and other fordable 
mountain torrents flow through this region, draining 



410 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

fertile valleys of limited extent. The highest peaks 
are twelve thousand feet above the sea. The moun- 
tains are more rugged than anywhere in the Rockies, 
the Saw-Tooth Range, especially, being a marvel of 
diamond pointed peaks, jutting crags and rocky 
heights, which even the mountain sheep will not 
attempt to scale. Pine timber is very abundant on 
the lower mountains, almost everywhere. The re- 
gion is full of lakes, and its canons are among the 
grandest ever discovered. 

The prospects of an early construction of a rail- 
road from some point on the Utah and Northern 
Line, through to Oregon, and passing near the Wood 
River mining region, have stimulated prospectors 
to turn their attention in that direction, and with 
the most fortunate results. Four or five galena 
belts have been opened up, and it is the belief of all 
who have explored that region, that belt after belt 
of argentiferous galena ores, exist all the way from 
the low hills at the base of the Wood River Range, 
to the divide of Wood and Salmon Rivers, a distance 
of forty-five miles. This great belt of high grade 
galena and carbonate ores extends in a southwesterly 
direction from Bay Horse district, near Challis, 
through, by the head of East Fork, to Wood River, 
and over to the south tributaries of the Boise. This 
comprises the most extensive silver bearing range 
known, being from twenty to forty miles in width 
and 130 to 140 miles in length. The principal mining 
camp in the region, is about one hundred miles from 
Bonanza City. 

The mines in the Lower Wood River district are 
divided into two camps. The first is in the outer 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 411 

foot-hills, and five miles from the old Emigrant 
road leading to Oregon and Washington Territory. 
A great many locations have been made and con- 
siderable work done. Ore has been shipped to 
Utah which reahzed $150 to $200 per ton. The 
veins vary in thickness from one, to two-and-a-half 
ieet. The ores are galena, easily smelted, running 
from forty to sixty per cent, lead, and from $80 to 
^250 silver. There is an abundance of iron in the 
vicinity. The leads are generally weU defined, with 
bold croppings. 

The second camp is located about six miles 
above the first, and on the main Wood River. The 
first lode was discovered in 1864, but nothing was 
done upon it until 1872, since which time large 
quantities of ore have been taken therefrom, and 
shipped to Salt Lake, much of it being sold for $200 
per ton. The ore is similar to that found in other 
parts of Wood River, carries a large per cent, of 
lead, and considerable oxide of iron. The lode is 
four feet wide, with a vein of ore two or three feet, 
running through it. There are eight or ten leads 
equally good. The ore yields from $150 to $300 
silver, per ton. The climate is favorable for a win- 
ter camp. 

Warm Spring Creek is a tributary of Wood River, 
flowing in from the west ; it is properly the west 
fork of Wood River. It is- about 20 miles above the 
Emigrant road, and nearly midway between Upper 
and Lower Wood River mines. The mineral belt 
is located about ten miles from the mouth of 
Warm Spring' Creek, and was discovered in the 
;8ummer of 1879. The first mine is the Idaho. 



412 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

There is an open cut, 20 feet long and 15 feet 
deep, on the ledge, exposing a large body of anti- 
monial silver ore, that assays from $80 to $205 
per ton. Wood Eiver is the next location adjoin- 
ing the Idaho, and showing a good body of ore, 
that yields $150 per ton. The Black Horse ex- 
poses two feet of galena ore, that yields $300 sil- 
ver, per ton. The Ten Broeck, located in August, 
1879, shows from twelve to fifteen inches of galena 
and antimonial silver. The vein is exposed for 
nearly 100 feet, by shaft and open cut. The ore 
yields from $150 to $275 silver, per ton. The Sov- 
ereign has an open cut on the ledge, sixteen feet 
from the surface, showing a magnificent body of 
gray carbonates, that assays from $200 to $900 sil- 
ver, per ton, and 45 per cent. lead. 

The Upper Wood River mines of the region are 
similar in character to those of Middle and Lower 
Wood River. In July, 1879, the abundance of the 
ore and the high assays, attracted the attention of 
miners far and near. To the close of the year, 
seventy-five locations had been made, many of them 
very promising. In September, of that year. Ga- 
lena City was laid out, and the Wood River district, 
embracing 600 square miles, was organized. The 
mines of Upper Wood River are all in the vicinity 
of Galena City. The belt, so far as developed, is 
about three miles in length and two in width. It 
is a net-work of veins, the croppings prominent, and 
often traceable for thousands of feet. The Levia- 
than, and several other mines, yield largely. 

I have been thus minute as this wonderful region 
is but little known, and to this time does not even 
appear upon the maps of the Territory. 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 413 

There are many mines in Alturas county, which 
with judicious management would doubtless yield 
immense returns, judging from recent results. 

The Owyhee and other mines on that section of 
War Eagle Mountain, are especially productive. 
Probably in addition to the above, the best known 
and richest mines are the Black Jack, Florida Hill, 
Boonville, Sierra Nevada, and Lone Tree. The 
amount of bullion is steadily increasing, new mines 
are constantly being opened, some of them being 
very rich, while the older ones are as constantly 
yielding up their wealth. There is a growing in- 
terest in the mineral resources of the Territory, 
which are of incalculable extent. The great want 
of the country, is more capital to work mines both 
on Florida and War Eagle Mountains. The Oro 
Fino and Poorman, both of which have in the past 
yielded treasure to the amount of milhons of dollars, 
offer the most tempting opportunities to capitahsts. 

The mines in the southern and eastern portion of 
the Territory have begun to attract the attention 
that there immense wealth merits, while the rich 
soil of that vast uncultivated region in the north, 
with its healthful climate, and propitious surround- 
ings generally, render it most inviting for emigrants, 
and a few years must effect a wonderful change 
there, in the way of opening up the country. 



414 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



' CHAPTEE XXVII. 

Washington Territory — Natural Features and Scenery of the Country. 
The Walla Walla Region — Its Condition, Present and Prospective- 
— The Climate — Puget Sousd — An Adventure. 

We left Lewiston, a little town on the Snake 
River, quite near the Indian reservation, and en- 
tered the county of Walla Walla, Washington Ter- 
ritory, which though containing at the present time 
but two towns — Walla Walla, and Waitsburg, — is- 
the richest county in the Territory. 

Washington, as the reader is aware, is the extreme 
northwest of our country, lying between the 46th and 
48th degrees north latitude, and between the fortieth 
and forty-eighth degrees west longitude from Wash- 
ington, D. C. It contains seventy thousand square 
miles, and has a population of 63,220. It is an 
empire in and of itself, and has miUions of acres of 
unappropriated lands, although there is now a large 
immigration pouring into the country. Though 
land speculators are holding real estate at high 
figures — from thirty-five to forty dollars per acre, 
for the most desirable regions controlled by them, — 
land equally good, can be purchased for five dollars, 
or appropriated for nothing beyond the trouble of 
staking it out, or it may be secured at government 
prices, as preferred. The great grain raising region 
comprised within the limits of the Territory, wiU in 
a few years, be susceptible of sustaining a population 
ten times greater than it is at present. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 415 

The vast region embraced within the boundaries 
of Washington, is diversified by lofty mountain 
ranges, beautiful valleys, and glens, and extensive 
plains. The upper or northern quarter from Puget 
Sound to the eastern boundary, is a region of moun- 
tains, and the Cascade Range extends through the 
Territory from north to south, dividing it into 
nearly equal parts. These mountains, as also the 
Coast Range and Blue Mountains have many tower- 
ing peaks, which rise to the height of from eight 
thousand to nearly twelve thousand feet, among 
the highest is Mt. Baker, Rainier, Adams, St. 
Helena, Hood and Shasta. The Territory is wa- 
tered by the Columbia River — the boundary hne, on 
the south, separating it from Oregon — by the Snake, 
and by scores of tributaries of these majestic rivers, 
and by numerous mountain torrents. 

The natural scenery of Washington is singularly 
picturesque. Fifty miles north of the rich gold 
region, on the Wenatchee River — a tributary of 
the Columbia, which dashes swiftly down the 
mountain side to the southeast, through canons of 
terrible depth and over rocks of gigantic propor- 
tions, that form beautiful cascades--is Lake Chelan. 
The lake, though not large, is very beautiful, both 
in itself and in its surroundings. There are but 
few lakes in the Territory, and these are very small. 

To the north of Walla Walla, is the Great Plain 
of the Columbia River — a region extending over an 
area of nearly five thousand square miles ; and north 
of this is the Great Plateau of Spokane ; while on 
the west of the country which is hemmed in on 
three sides by the northern bend of the Snake River^ 
is a vast Sage Plain. 



416 LIf E IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The more populous regions of Washington are 
upon the western slope, on the Pacific Coast, and 
on the many .arms of Puget Sound. But Walla 
Walla merits a more elaborate notice. The value 
of its taxable property in 1879, was three million 
dollars, half of it being real estate. The county has 
thirty-three surveyed townships, nearly its whole 
area, the only unsurveyed land being that which 
lies along the summits ol the Blue Mountains, and 
valuable for the timber it contains. Of the land 
imder cultivation, 62,649 acres are apportioned for 
grain — wheat, barley and oats, while many thous- 
ands of cattle and horses roam over the region. 

The prosperous little city of Walla Walla has a 
population of four thousand, which is double of that 
of the county at large. The valley of the Walla 
Walla has been thus described by Bishop Haven, 
and no description could be more just : 

" It was a great surprise to me to enter on this 
superb valley. For three days, we had toiled on 
steamboat and locomotive, toiled up this most ma- 
jestic river, around the portages, and up three hun- 
dred miles of water. The banks were wooded, or 
rocky in bluffs, so that the whole distance, hardly a 
green meadow had gladdened our eyes. The green 
waters were very gladsome. The scenery of the 
river grows mellow constantly, as we touch the val- 
ley of the Walla Walla Eiver, but not till we draw 
near the town do we discover the magnificent en- 
tertainment. The valley of the Walla Walla is be- 
fore us. 'Lovely, lovely,' is our translation of 
WaUa WaUa — 'water, water' is said to be its real 
meaning. A score of miles north and south, two 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 417 

score east and west lies the level landscape. Wheat- 
fields glow far up the mountain side ; poplars stand 
hke soldiers along the roadways. Blue haze rests 
on the hills. Emblazoned in trees and grass, peep 
out church spires. We are amazed at such a Tad- 
mor, whose pillars are green and gold, far up three 
days' slow steaming into a burmng, treeless wilder- 
ness. Such is the valley of the Walla Walla." 

It is a great centre, and destined to wield a 
greater influence in the future. Not fifteen years 
have passed since the first house was erected, and 
already, between four and five thousand persons are 
residing here; large brick and iron stores, banks 
and hotels are built; the chief streets are wet 
down, and kept cool, and business by millions is 
transacted. For two hundred miles it is the centre 
of trade. It is three hundred miles away from its 
only other rival in the northwest — Portland, and 
can have no nearer rival. 

The railroad running here from the river is al- 
ready branching itself into the country. Two arms 
are being stretched out to neighboring settlements, 
and more are to follow. Its eye is on the east, and 
the Northern Pacific will have to pass its door, or it 
wiU make for itself a junction with both that and 
the Union Pacific. 

One pecuharity is not so agreeable. A fine brown- 
black alkali dust creeps up into the air, and does 
not settle night or day. At Salt Lake City, the dust 
rises in the day, but gets to bed before morning. 
Here no breeze nor dampness allays the dust. It 
simply continues. It looks like a cloud or fog. 
Only the rains kill it, and they come seldom in early 



418 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

autumn. When the" wheat begins to come to market, 
the dust accumulates ; fifteen inches thick, it is then 
on the ground, and it Ufts itself up in the atmos- 
phere, and takes possession of the valley. A ride 
outside of the town, introduces you to this most un- 
welcome character. The wheels roll round in dust 
a foot deep, bring it upon the wagon side and dump 
it in on your clothes, so thick that it can be shoveled 
off, if you had a shovel. The horse is lost to sight. 
You enter into the cloud and abide in it, so long as 
this wading continues. When the heavy teams 
have cut into this soil a foot or more, the ash-heap 
is fearful; yet it is a heap of richest ashes. The soil 
brings forth abundantly. Unwatered, the wheat 
rushes to perfection. Miles on miles, stretch out 
the vast yellow richness ; curling around the foot 
hills, up the sides, over the range goes the golden 
belt. We can endure a little dust in the highway, 
for such profusion of gold dust in the field. 

The Northwest is rapidly filhng up. It is full of 
gold as well as wheat, of silver no less than of sheep 
and cattle. Its surface is wild, rough, rocky, alka- 
line, with valleys hid among the hills. No Illinois 
softness, or Ohio rolling landscape, woods and 
grasses, or Indiana levels, or Michigan variety of 
green, is here. It is dry and parched, with grease- 
bush and sage-plant, save where the water comes. 
Irrigation is its life. 

Under the grand peaks that line the cascades — 
in sight of an old, unpainted block-house of the 
Hudson Bay Company, with tall blufts covered with 
tall firs, rising on either hand, with the swift green 
river rushing beneath my feet, I feel the thrilling 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 419 

strength and calm of this munificence of nature." 

The chmate of Washington Territory, though 
generally healthful, is widely different from that 
which we had just left, and widely different from 
other regions eastward in the same latitude. 

" On our west coast, the isothermal line bends 
abruptly northward. San Francisco, in the latitude 
of Kichmond, has the climate of Savannah. Vic- 
toria, on Vancouver Island, far north of Quebec, is 
as warm as New York. In Portland, Oregon, roses 
grow in open air throughout the year. WaUa 
Walla, in Washington Territory, latitude forty-six 
degrees north, corresponds in temperature to Wash- 
ington City, in thirty -nine ; Clark's Fork, Idaho, in 
forty-eight, to St. Joseph, Missouri, in forty ; Bitter 
Eoot Valley, Montana, in forty-six, to Philadelphia^ 
in forty." 

All points on the Pacific Slope are as warm as 
those from six to ten degrees further south on the 
Atlantic side. This difference is by some, supposed 
to be due to the very numerous hot springs in the 
Columbia region, and elsewhere from the Rocky 
Mountains to the Pacific, but the prevailing theory 
is, that it is caused by a current of warm water and 
air, from the Indian ocean, striking the coast at an 
acute angle, near San Francisco, and thence flow- 
ing northward. 

Olympia, the capital of the Territory is a growing 
city, situated upon a southern arm of Puget Sound, 
upon the hne of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It 
is a place of much importance already, and is des- 
tined to become one of the great cities of the Pacific 
Coast. Its geographical position is especially favor- 



420 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

able for an extensive trade. There are very many 
thriving towns upon the coast as w^ell as in the in- 
terior, and at the present rate of immigration, these 
towns will soon become populous, and new ones 
will spring up in the favored regions. The growth 
of the Territory has been especially rapid within 
the last few years, and will become still more so, as 
soon as the public appreciate its vast resources. 
Like other Territories to the South and East, it is 
rich in gold, silver and other valuable ores, but thus 
far, its mining interests have not received as much 
attention as they certainly will do in the near fu- 
ture. 

Puget Sound is the great feature of Washington, 
and a more beautiful expanse of water is not to be 
found on the globe. Its many arms branch out in 
every direction, and its placid waters — as clear as 
crystal — are everywhere dotted wnth little islands; 
some of which are of singular beauty. These we 
visited. The day was beautiful and the scene en- 
chanting. 

In the vicinity of the Sound is a heavy forest — a 
prolific source of wealth. The lumber trade is im- 
mense ; and it may now be estimated by millions of 
doUars. It is constantly increasing. Every coast 
town has its saw mills. Washington furnishes the 
best quality of ship timber, and this finds a ready 
market not only all along the coast, but in the 
Sandwich Islands, the East Indies and even Aus- 
tralia and some countries of northern Europe. The 
fishing interests and fur trade of the Territory are 
very considerable, and a source of great wealth. 

The forests abound in valuable timber, the supply 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



421 



of which is seemingly inexhaustible, and are full of 
game of every species. The Indians are peaceful, 
and though, it is said, they are inferior in some 
respects to the more eastern tribes, they are very 
apt in acquiring the vices of the white men, who 
have come among them, and it is not at all rare to 




SILVER LAKE, WASHINGTON TERRITOBY. 

find them engaged in gambling, and as great adepts 
as any of the class. We visited the extensive coal 
regions, a source of a brisk trade and of large revenue. 
In many parts of the Territory there are beauti- 
ful cascades and numerous canons of great depth 
and subhmity, and especially upon one of the large 
tributaries of the Columbia, with an unpronouncea- 
ble Indian name, signifying "The Terrible," which 



422 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

was one of the finest lumber regions in the 
country, and this we determined to explore. 
Providing ourselves with ammunition and the 
necessary outfit, we attempted to make the jour- 
ney on foot. Our first day was a pleasant ex- 
perience, but the second was not. The country 
was wild, rugged in the extreme, and the Under- 
brush so dense, that it was at times almost impossi- 
ble to proceed. At length we reached a region 
where the land was more level, and travehng was 
by no means diflicult. It had never occurred to us 
that there might be danger of losing our way in the 
trackless forest, and we went confidently forward 
till toward night. The sun had not gone down, but 
in the forest it was nearly dark. Arriving at a suit- 
able locality, near a running rivulet, we were about 
to kindle a camp-fire and make preparations for the 
night, when we heard the sound of human voices, 
and proceeding in the direction from whence they 
came, we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of 
several Indian lodges. We were kindly received by 
the red men, who, having often been in the coast 
towns, spoke our language well enough. 

We encamped for the night, and next morning 
proceeded on our way, the Indians having assured 
us that we were within a few miles of a settlement, 
before reaching which, we would pass through a re- 
gion where a number of wood-choppers were at 
work on the banks of a large water-course. After 
a long and tedious journey, observing, as we sup- 
posed, the directions we had received, we arrived — 
not at the settlement, not at the lumber camp, but 
in the vicinity of the very Indian encampment we 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 423 

had left in the morning, having made a circuit of 
many miles. Another night with our Indian friends, 
who were greatly amused at our want of skill in 
wood-craft, and we started next morning under 
guidance of a stalwart Indian, who volunteered to 
accompany us, and about mid-day found ourselves 
at the lumber camp. 

There were a dozen brawny men, with long hair 
and full beards, and of several nationalities. They 
gave us a hearty welcome, and offered us food and 
comfortable lodgings, which we gladly accepted. 
Wishing to reward our guide, Warrington incau- 
tiously opened his belt, in which he had several 
hundred dollars in gold and silver, and placed a 
piece in the hand of the Indian, who then departed. 

I observed that the act was noticed by several of 
the men, but it did not then occur to Mr. Warring- 
ton that it was a most imprudent measure, however 
much he thought of the affair at a later time. We 
were informed by the lumber men that a large pan- 
ther had, the previous evening, been seen in the 
vicinity of the camp, and that it would be prudent 
to share their lodgings, rather than to pitch our 
tent elsewhere; and, unsuspectingly, we assented. 
That night, by the light of the camp-fire, we passed 
a pleasant hour, and gained information concerning 
the river and canons and cascades, which increased 
our curiosity to see it for ourselves. Our tent that 
night, was of the branches and boughs of trees. Be- 
fore retiring we spoke to each other of Warrington's 
imprudence, and took the precaution of sleeping 
with our rifles by our side. About midnight, a 
stealthy step was heard, approaching with greatest 



424 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

caution; softly, then evidently pausing to listen ; at 
length an arm was cautiously thrust between the 
bushes, and, as silent as a shadow, a man stood be- 
fore us. In an instant Barstow sprang up and 
seized the villain by the throat, but with equal 
dexterity he struck at Barstow^ with a long 
hunting knife, which, fortunately, inflicted but a 
very shght flesh wound, and a moment later had 
vanished. The camp was a scene of confusion — the 
woodsmen were instantly astir, and, singularly 
enough, not a man was missing. Diligent search 
was made, but the villain, whoever he was, had 
escaped. It w^as surmised by the men that it was 
our Indian guide, who had returned for a greater 
fee ; but we had had a glimpse of the intruder by 
the dim fire Ught, and knew him to be aw^hite man. 
He was, as we believed, among the number who 
came to investigate the cause of the alarm. 

The next morning we went forward upon our 
expedition, and accomplishing the purpose for w^hich 
we came, we proceeded to Portland, the capital of 
Oregon. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 425- 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Columbia River^A Trip to Portland — Iron Mines — The Beautiful 
Valley of the Willamette — The Resources of the Territory — The 
Future Commercial Emporium of the Pacific Coast — Mountain 
Scenery — Climate, Etc. 

Down from the lakes of British Columbia, south- 
ward, along the base of great mountain ranges for 
five hundred miles, flows the majestic river — the 
Columbia, receiving from point to point, the willing 
tribute of scores of great streams, and of a thousand 
mountain torrents, which in eager haste come, 
dashing madly over precipitous cliffs and through 
wild and deep canons — onward rushing, like fleet 
coursers flecked with foam, they bring their spark- 
ling liquid wealth to the kingly river of the great 
northwest, that rolls in majesty onward, for four 
hundred miles beyond, to where the setting sun 
throws his last golden rays upon the in-rolhng 
waves of the western sea; there it expands to a 
width of several miles. 

Leaving the little town of Lexington, situated 
upon the southern bank, we took passage upon a 
river steamer. For fifty or sixty miles, our course 
was eastward. To the magnificent views of grand 
mountain and valley scenery on either hand, was 
added that of little towns and hamlets on the river 
banks. At Monticello, — through which in early 
time wiU run heavily freighted trains over the^ 
Northern Pacific Railroad — the river bends sharply 
to the south, for a distance of fifty or sixty miles. 



426 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Arriving at the mouth of the Wihamette — the great 
western tributary which flows in from the South, 
we continued on our way to Portland, a distance of 
twelve miles from the Columbia, and one hundred 
and fifteen by water to the sea. 

Portland is a pretty and rapidly growing city, of 
about twenty thousand inhabitants. It has many 
imposing business houses and elegant residences, 
and is destined to become a great city at no 
distant day, having all the elements of solid and 
permanent prosperity. Within fifteen miles of Port- 
land, iron ore has been found in great abundance, 
some of it yielding from fifty to sixty per cent, of 
the metal, and in the immediate vicinity there is 
both coal and wood in limitless supply. This mineral 
is a great source of wealth to the people of Oregon, 
for, on the Pacific coast alone, not less than a hun- 
dren tons of iron are required daily, and this demand 
will be vastly increased as railroads multiply, and 
mining regions become developed. The foundries 
of California and of Oregon are constantly doing an 
immense business, in making the stamps and other 
mining machinery, and, even in full blast, cannot 
supply the present demand. 

In the extent of coal and iron, essential elements 
of national wealth and greatness, our country sur- 
passes all others. The United States has one square 
mile of coal-field to every fifteen square miles of 
territory. This, in the great extent of our posses- 
sions, gives us an estimate of 200,000 square miles 
of workable coal. Compare this area with the 
number of square miles of coal-fields in the British 
Islands, given on the authority of their geologists, 
as 8,130 square miles of workable coal. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST, 427 

From the product of her coal and iron mines, 
England, for two centuries, has monopolized and 
ruled the commerce of the world. 

Her prosperity is involved in the duration of her 
coal-fields. It is estimated by the statisticians of 
Great Britain that their available supply of coal 
will be exhausted, under the present rate of con- 
sumption, in three hundred years from the present 
time. We may therefore form an idea and rough 
estimate of the great wealth that is stored away in 
our exhaustless coal-fields, to be developed with our 
energy as a free people, under the protection of a 
republican form of government. 

Scarcely less valuable will the iron mines prove 
to Oregon, than her immense silver and gold regions, 
the enormous wealth of which has been reported, 
and evidenced by heavy shipments of bullion. 

We proceeded by rail to Albany, eighty- six miles 
distant, passing through the beautiful valley of the 
Willamette. For miles and miles, we saw rich and 
productive farms, and orchards of dehcious fruits, of 
varieties common to the latitude, but of larger 
growth ; farm houses with pretty gardens, immense 
barns, telling of great harvests, cattle in large herds, 
and everything affording evidence unmistakable of 
the greatest thrift and prosperity. Here, a vast 
expanse of prairie, and yonder, large groves of fine 
timber, with here and there a partial clearing, 
where the hand of enterprise and willing toil is 
adding to the wealth of the country, and securing 
the inheritance heaven designed for all, a home of 
comfort, happiness and thrift. This delightful val- 
ley, the most populous of any region in the Terri- 



428 LIfE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

tory, is from thirty to sixty miles in width, and 
comprises not less than five million acres, the soil 
of every one as rich as Eastern gardens. 

The Willamette is navigable for more than a 
hundred miles, except at Oregon City, where locks 
have been required to pass around the Falls — a 
grand water power which will in time, no doubt, be 
utilized for turning mill wheels ; for the capitahst 
cannot fail to see that this little town may easily be 
made a great manufacturing city. He would not 
be obliged to purchase wool abroad, for of all the 
pursuits in Oregon, there is perhaps none more 
generally engaging the attention of the people than 
sheep-raising. 

We visited Salem, still further to the South, and 
many other places west of the mountains, every- 
where discovering evidences of present and increas- 
ing prosperity. The delightful region of the Willam- 
ette valley afforded many charming pictures for 
memory's gallery, to which we turned with delight a 
little later on, when visiting lands less favored with 
natural scenery. 

Ten years prior to the gold discoveries in CaUfor- 
nia — in 1849, emigrants from tlie Eastern States 
and from Europe, came to Oregon, through the 
South Pass. The charming valley of the Willamette 
was then the only favorite region, but lands quite 
as desirable in other parts of the Territory, have 
since that date, become the chosen home of thous- 
ands, and the gold and silver fields have induced 
still other thousands to come and "try their luck" 
in mining. 

Oregon is not only rich in gold, silver, and iron, 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 429 

but also in copper, lead and marble. She sends to 
tlie markets of the world vast quantities of lumber, 
wool, fish and fruit. 

The outlook for Oregon is most promising. It 
has all the elements, and many important resources 
of a rich and prosperous State, and before the lapse 
of many years it may become the leading State on 
the Pacific Coast ; and in the region between the 
southern boundary of Oregon and Puget Sound in 
Washington, may rise a commercial emporium 
greater even than San Francisco is to-day. The 
future of these Territories is full of grand probabih- 
ties which the years of the next decade will doubt- 
less develop into realization, by a continuance of 
the wise policy which now prevails, of good govern- 
ment, enterprise and avoidance of land speculations. 
New towns and villages are everywhere springing up, 
and the great influx of immigration is evidence that 
the superior attractions of this vast region are 
already becoming widely known and justly appre- 
ciated. 

Oregon has an area of more than a hundred thous- 
-and square miles, being four hundred and twenty 
miles in length, and two hundred and forty in width 
— lying between the 42d and 45th degrees north lat- 
itude. It is diversified by mountains, valleys and 
plains. The great ranges of mountains are the Cas- 
cades, which extend through the Territory from 
north to south, and the Blue Mountains, in the 
eastern part. There are several mountain peaks 
especially notable for their great altitude; among 
which are "Pilot Mountain," — so called by Colonel 
Fremont— "Hood," "Jefferson," "Three Sisters," 
and a few others. 



430 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

There are two systems of climate in Oregon, 
doubtless owing to the great northern range of 
mountains. During the rainy season, west of the 
mountains, rain falls almost continually. In the re- 
gion east of the mountains, the climate is colder, 
with more frequent frosts. There is also a great 
difference in the floral productions and in the for- 
ests. The varieties of wood most abundant in the 
western division are oak, maple and mountain lau- 
rel — the latter a very beautiful evergreen, which 
sometimes grows to the great height of seventy or 
even eighty feet. It has shining leaves of a deep, 
dark green, and it is said that the tree sheds its ex- 
ternal layer of bark annually, leaving the trunk and 
branches quite smooth, and of a delicate pale red 
hue. 

As in Washington, the mountain sides, especially 
in the southern part of the Territory, are clothed 
with heavy forests. 

Passing to the eastern division, we find the trees 
chiefly of pitch pine, red and white fir, juniper, 
aspen and cottonwood. Along the creeks, wil- 
lows grow very abundantly, and in the mountains 
there is found, in considerable quantities, a hard and 
beautiful wood known as mountain mahogany. 
The pitch-pine is, however, far more numerous than 
any other tree; the mountains in the south and 
central parts of the Territory being heavily tim- 
bered with it. 

There are many beautiful lakes in Grant and 
Jackson counties. The country generally is drained 
by numberless rivers and streams; the largest 
being the "Willamette," "Des Chutes," "John 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 431 

Days," "Crooked," "Powder," "Owyhee," etc. Be- 
tween the Cascade Mountains and the western 
spur of the Bkie Mountains, in Wasco County, 
there is a vast sage desert, which is in singular con- 
trast with the extensive and dehghtful valleys in 
Grant County, on the east. The valleys of the 
great rivers throughout the Territory, are exceed- 
ingly fertile. 

Stein Mountain, the highest mountain peak in 
the southern section, is seventy-five miles south of 
Fort Harney, and twenty-five miles south of this 
post is a broad expanse of water, known as Malheur 
Lake, in the vicinity of which are extensive swamps. 
To the southwest is Harney's Lake. Immense flocks 
of water fowl of various kinds resort to both of these 
lakes in summer and fall. The soil of the valley in 
some places would be well adapted for raising grain, 
were it not for heavy frosts. It is an excellent graz- 
ing country. The stone used for building purposes 
in this region, is of volcanic origin, easily shaped 
when first quarried, but very hard upon exposure to 
the air. 

Before leaving Oregon, we visited the Des Chutes 
or Fall Eiver, to see the w^onderful canons and 
beautiful cascades, which led the French explorers 
to give it the name it bears. We also ascended the 
highest peak of the Cascade Mountains, and though 
the ascent was toilsome in the extreme, and not a 
httle perilous, we were repaid by the new experience 
gained. There are many things in life vastly more 
agreeable than chmbing steep mountains, so steep 
that to proceed a dozen rods sometimes requires a 
half hour of severe toil. After climbing patiently 



432 LIFE IN THE WILDS OP AMERICA, 

and hopefully foot-by-foot for a height of three or 
four thousand feet, it is not remarkably inspiring on 
reaching the summit of a peak, to find ourselves 
completely enveloped in clouds so dense that noth- 
ing can be seen beyond the circumscribed area upon 
which we maintain a precarious foot-hold. 

Descending from the peak, we entered the deep 
ravine leading to the Falls. Perpendicular cliffs 
shut us in, while through the centre rushed with 
arrowy swiftness the great tributary of the Des 
Chutes River. Then we entered a forest of dark 
pines, and walking on for a mile or so, caught sight 
of the white mists, amid which rainbows were 
playing. Soon we began to ascend the mountain 
side, till we reached a little green arbor, just opposite 
the Falls. They are not as grand as some we have 
seen, but have great picturesque beauty. The circ- 
ling mountains seem to shut in the sound, making 
the roar almost deafening, as down the mountain 
side poured the swift waters in a sheet of white 
foam, hundreds of feet in extent. A vast basin of 
rock received it, and then the waters dashed in fury 
down into the abyss below. Clambering down the 
dangerous declivity, we retraced our steps along the 
gorge. 

The population of Oregon in 1869 was one hun- 
dred thousand; it is now probably 150,000 — five 
times as great as that of Washington Territory. 
Oregon contains 60,975,360 acres — Washington 
44,796,160 acres; no danger to settlers from being 
overcrowded in either Territory. 



AND WONDERS OP THE WEST. 433 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

•Off for California — The Fort Benton Party — First Ride Over the Great 
Pacific Raih'oad — Wonderful Scenery — Mountains and Canons — 
Hot Springs — A Race for Life — Arrival in California — Carson Val- 
ley — Lake Tahoe — Mining Interests, Etc. 

By stage and by rail, we proceeded to Ogden, 
Utah, the junction of the Union and Central Pa- 
cific Railroads, with the purpose of passing through 
the " Silver State" to California. A more direct 
route might have been chosen, but as the gentle- 
men of our party, who had returned from Foii; Ben- 
ton in the Elliot, proposed to join us at Ogden, we 
assented to the arrangement, and made a long de- 
tour, for the purpose of meeting them, — all the 
more readily, as none of the party had ever passed 
over that great national highway. 

Our friends had boarded the train at Omaha, and 
upon their arrival at Ogden, we joined them. 

Leaving Ogden, which is 882 miles distant from 
San Francisco, we soon had an unobstructed view 
of the Grreat Salt Lake. With two engines at- 
tached, we left the delightful valley, and the long 
train toiled up the mountain side. At length the 
summit was reached. The beautiful lake was no 
longer seen; but before us rose new and varied 
scenery. Utah was passed, and we had entered -N' c- 
vada — a vast Territory of 84,000 square miles. The 
view was tame and uninteresting. We beheld only 
a barren waste of worthless land, utterly destitute 

of vegetation, if we except the ever present sage 
as 



434 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

bush. There was no si^n of civihzation, nothing 
to denote the presence of a single human being, or 
that one had ever visited this desolate region, ex- 
cept that now and then w^e passed a little rude rail- 
way station, and at long distances a house, time 
worn, and as cheerless to all appearance, as the re- 
gion itself. How or why people live in such isola- 
tion from the world, amid solitudes so monotonous 
and cheerless, I leave others to determine, being 
utterly unable to do so. 

We are still surrounded by bald mountains, and 
arid, trackless regions, that not even the proposed 
artesian wells for irrigation can, by any possibihty, 
render capable of bearing enough of vegetation to 
serve for a sheep's sustenance for a single day. 
Here we have found an "American Desert" — great 
or small, the extent jet to be determined. My for- 
mer respect for the old time map-maker began to 
return — perhaps, after all, w^e have a " Great iVmer- 
ican Desert," 

But we must bear in mind that this is a mineral 
region, and in the infancy of its development. Six 
or eight kinds of minerals are found here, and it 
may be believed that in the mountains and plains 
of this desolate region is garnered up wealth enough 
to enrich the whole world. 

As our train is dashing onward over this treeless, 
trackless region, we will glance at that part of the 
route over wdiich our friends had passed in crossing 
from Omaha to Ogden. 

Just beyond the precincts of the flourishing city 
of Omaha, they passed through a delightful farming 
region, the abundant grains and grasses everywhere 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 435 

evidencing the singular productiveness of the soil. 
The country is sufficiently undulating and watered, 
but soon the undulation sinks to the level of a 
plain. There is no timber, not even a copse or tree 
to be seen. The soil becomes poorer; the occu- 
pants of the rude frontier cabins do not even at- 
tempt to make a garden ; but bunch grass and other 
coarse varieties are abundant enough here, and 
cattle roam over the plain. Soon the Platte Eiver 
is reached and crossed, and the trains arrive at 
Kearney Junction. Beyond this place our old 
aversion — the interminable sage bush begins ; deso- 
lation and barrenness increases with every mile, 
till scarce a bird or beast, or tree or shrub reheveS' 
the weary eye. Dreary sohtude reigns on all sides,, 
relieved only by an occasional village of prairie dogs 
with their strange consorts, the owls and snakes. 
The snake makes a dinner of the prairie dog, and 
the owl of the snake, but the prairie dog who 
escapes his mortal enemy, fares worse than the 
others — he feeds upon expectation surely, for there 
is nothing tangible to satisfy his appetite. 

Reaching the point where an ascending grade 
begins, the first mountain ranges appear in the dim 
and hazy distance. Soon afterward, the train ar- 
rives at Cheyenne, a flourishing little city, but 
dependent for the staff of life upon neighboring 
States. But the traveler, weary of monotony, ex- 
periences a sense of relief in knowing that the train 
has already begun to ascend the Rocky Mountains. 
Two engines are now required, for the grade is steep, 
— at the rate of sixty-eight feet to the mile, and for 
one mile it is ninety. The road winds amid pro- 



f 



436 LIPE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

jecting rocks, until finally, the summit is gained; 
an altitude of eight thousand feet above the level 
of the sea, and rock-ribbed mountains towering 
high upon either side. 

The almost endless variety of mountain scenery 
is always remarked by the traveler. Mountains 
never weary the eye — they always present some 
phase of novelty, some new wonder or some detail 
of interest. We may weary of the vast plain and 
of the expanse of ocean, however startling their 
first impression, for they present only monotony, 
but the endless variety of the "everlasting hills" ris- 
ing in majesty above the plane of earth, affords 
delight however often, or from whatever point of 
sight we view" them. 

Some of these mountains rise perpendicularly, 
others ledge on ledge, terrace above terrace ; others 
slope gradually and gracefully from base to summit ; 
some rise in colossal grandeur, one massive rock 
upon another, as placed in position by the skill of 
man,others in promiscuous heaps,hke mighty castles, 
the storied walls and jutting peaks of which had 
been jostled by an earthquake ; some conical, others 
triangular, — all of wondrous grandeur. 

The train enters Echo Canon, where the traveler 
looks on some of the wildest scenery in the world. 
Down goes the train thundering, dashing, winding 
and curving amid frowning battlements of rocks 
rising hundreds of feet above you. You plunge 
down a canon, seventeen miles in length, full of 
shadows and weird forms, walled in by rocks, which 
rise in rugged majesty, and of ever varying form 
and color, to inaccessible heights. Now, before you 



•f 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 437 

is a projecting mountain, seemingly against which 
the train will be shattered to atoms, but a moment 
more you are passing under the mountain, in total 
darkness, stunned by the roar and din of the train, 
as it dashes onward, swiftly onward. Objects of 
wonder are met on every hand, but the speed of the 
train admits of but a hasty glance. 

After passing "Castle Eocks," "Hanging Rock" 
comes into view; this overhangs its base for fifty 
feet ; then " Jack-in- the-Pulpit Rock," the " Mormon 
Fortifications, " " Steamboat Rock, " " SentinelRock, " 
"Monument," etc., till the train emerges from these 
scenes of terror into the sunlight, beauty and fer- 
tility of Weber valley — a transition as sudden as it 
is surprising and grateful. 

This canon, says Wolfe, is memorable as the scene 
of Miles' Ride, one of the most exciting incidents 
in the history of railroading in the West. Miles 
had started from the upper part of the canon for 
Weber River, at its lower end, with a long train of 
cars, loaded with ties and iron rails. On his way, 
he discovered that the train had parted at a certain 
level place in the track, but now on the down grade 
again, the detached portion was thundering along 
behind with increasing and uncontrolled velocity, 
threatening a collision and the destruction of the 
entire train, with all in charge. Two Dutchmen 
were on the pursuing cars, but they were fast asleep, 
and did not hear the signal "down brakes," that 
came shrieking back through the canon. " Let on 
the steam ! " shouted Miles to his engineer, and on 
rushed the train like the wind, mile after mile with 
destruction close in the wake, and gaining on them. 



438 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The next thing was to pitch off the ties, as they 
raced for Ufe, with the hope of throwing the pursuing 
cars from the track. At last, meeting a tie or some 
other obstruction, they " flew the track " and bounded 
thirteen feet into a httle creek. As soon as possible, 
the flying train was stopped, and the hands went 
back to pick up the dead Dutchmen, but found them 
sitting on a grassy spot, smoking their pipes and 
just beginning to realize, from the wreck around 
them, the dreadful peril through which they had 
passed. 

Rushing on and down, the train reaches the Nar- 
rows, where the Mormons prepared to oppose the 
march of U. S. troops, under Gen. A. S. Johnston. 
Upon the tops of the precipitous cliffs, immense 
piles of stones of great size were collected with the 
intention of rolling them down upon the invading 
army, when in its march it should reach this defile. 
A most effective mode of destruction, copied from 
the example of the "Martyred Saints" of Switzer- 
land. They were not used, however. 

Just before leaving the canon, we notice " Brom- 
ley's Cathedral" and "Pulpit Rock." At the base 
of the mountains, and extending for some distance, 
the rocks assume the shape of spires, towers and 
domes, so as to convey, at a distance, a good idea of 
a grand cathedral. 

A little further on, the train enters Weber Canon, 
which rivals Echo Canon in the number of its natural 
wonders, and the magnitude and wild grandeur of 
its precipitous rocks. Evidently the entire canon 
was at one time the bed of Weber River, which is 
still a clear, strong stream over the sinuosities, of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 439 

which the road passes again and again upon trestle- 
work, or avoids by means of tunnels, blasted out of 
the sohd rock. The traveler will notice " Battlement 
Eocks," the "Witches," the "One thousand-mile- 
Tree," "Slate Cut" or "Photograph Rocks," the 
" Devil's Slide," etc. The latter carious formation 
consists of two paraUel lines of immense slab rock, 
standing on edge, deeply imbedded in the mountain 
side, a few feet apart, of equal height, and travers- 
ing the mountain from summit to base. 

The banks of the river in midsummer, are fringed 
with wild flowers of various kinds, the perfume of 
which fills the air and the railway coaches in passing. 

Crossing the river again, with high mountains 
on both sides, we soon catch a glimpse of the snowy 
tops of the Wasatch range, and are out of the 
canon, and in an open level country. A little later 
we pass " Devil's Grate Mountain," crowned with 
snow. It is one of the most picturesque places on 
the route, presenting views entirely unlike all others 
hitherto obtained. At a place called the "Devil's 
Gate," the bridge is ninety-two feet in height. In 
the valley below are seen cultivated gardens, and 
also the old stage road, upon the bed of which the 
grass is springing. 

Why the name of His Satanic majesty is so often 
used, is not quite clear. Whether he resides in the 
neighborhood or not, does not appear. There are 
a number of Mormon villages, not far away. 

The train next arrives at Ogden. Our train hav- 
ing passed the desert, the scenery becomes more 
interesting as we proceed. We reach Wells, a 
small village situated at the northern terminus of 



440 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the Humboldt Mountains. These are among the 
highest, grandest mountains seen on the entire 
route, hfting their imperial heads high above their 
lowlier neighbors, crowned with the drapery of 
eternal winter, plowed with deep, dark gorges, 
forming a succession of smaller ranges, while the 
melting snow covers them with deep verdure of 
spring. 

Passing around the mountains to the southwest, 
we enter the charming Humboldt Valley — eighty 
miles in length, with an average width of ten miles, 
with the Humboldt Eiver, a beautiful little stream, 
traversing its entire length. The soil is a dark, 
rich loam, but owing to the shortness of the season, 
it is utterly useless for agricultural purposes. 

The celebrated Hot Springs, rich mines of gold, 
silver, and sulphur — the latter so hard and pure as- 
to require blasting, are found here. 

Soon we arrive at Elko, a beautiful little town of 
1,200 inhabitants. On Smith's creek in this county, 
there is a remarkable stratum of steatite, resting 
horizontally in a steep bluff of volcanic matter, 
which flanks the eastern side of Smith's creek val- 
ley. Steatite is a soft magnesian rock having a 
soapy feel, i)resenting grayish- green, brown and 
whitish shades of color. It is a variety of talc and 
consists of silica and magnesia. It forms extensive 
beds, and is quarried for fire-places and for coarse 
utensils. It is also called jmt stone, lard stone, and 
socif) stone. The stratum is from three to ten feet 
in diameter. It is easily worked and is a veritable 
' soap mine. In fact, the farmers, cattle-men and 
sheep-herders, in that region all use the natural 
article for washing, — so it is said. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



441 



Passing numerous stations and objects of interest, 
we arrive at Reno, the county seat of Washoe 
county. It contains a population of 1,500. It was 
named in honor of Gen. Reno, who fell at the battle 
of South Mountain, and important as being the 
seat of the State Agricultural Society, the radiat- 




VILLAGE ON CRESCENT LAKE. 

ing centre of numerous stage lines, and the avenue 
to the greatest mining region in the known world. 
It is situated at the eastern slope of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains. 

Fields and orchards are seen, where ever we turn 
our eyes, while beautiful cypresses lift their graceful 
forms aU about us. We have reached the base of 



442 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the great Sierra Xevadas. We look upon such 
scenery, as never elsewhere enraptured human vi- 
sion: Gigantic mountains clothed with cj^jress, 
cedar and oak; enameled with Howers of dehcate 
form and hues of rare heauty; sylvan streams, liow- 
ing down the mountain side, murmuring, dancing 
and sparkling as they leap from rock to rock, hiu-ry- 
ing to the deep, blue sea. 

As we gazed upon these grand, old mountains, 
Miller's beautiful poem came to mind : — 

" The flight of time is underneath their untopped towers. 

They seem to push aside the moon at night. 

To josUe and imloose the stars. The flowei"s 

Of heaven fall about theii' brows in shining showers. 

They stand, a Une of lifted, snowy isles. 

High held above a tossed and tumbled sea — 

A sea of wood in wild, unmeasured miles: 

I look far down the hoUow days ; I see 

The bearded prophets, simple-souled and strong. 

That fill the hills and thrill with song the herding throng. 

They look as cold as Kings upon a throne ; 

The mantling wings of night are crushed and curled 

As feathers curl. The elements are hurled 

From off their bosoms, and are bidden go, 

Like e\il spirits, to an under-world. 

They stretch from Cariboo to ilexico, 

A line of battle-tent* in everlasting snow." 

These mountain peaks, for a distance of twenty 
or thirty miles, are lined with snow-sheds. The train 
slowly winds around Blue Canon. Four miles further, 
we ai-e at Shady Eun, from which point we have a 
full view of the Grreat American Canon — one of the 
grandest gorges in the world. Away to the left, may 
be seen the American River, winding its way hke a 
silver thread, between two perpendicular walls two 
thousand feet in height ; so one can stand on the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 443 

very brink of the crumbling cliff, and look dowD upon 
the foaming waters below. But the magnificent view 
is soon past. 

Five miles more, and while we are gazing with 
rapture upon an ever varying scene, suddenly the 
great canon breaks again upon our view with in- 
creased and awful grandeur. Soon our train darts 
along the very verge of a fearful chasm, twenty-five 
hundred feet below us, with an almost perpendicular 
wall. Houses look like diminutive shanties, men 
like pigmies. From here the scenery though beauti- 
ful dechnes in interest. The train has arrived in 
California. 

Nevada is a region of wonders. For diversity of 
its natural features and scenery, as well as for its 
vast mineral wealth, the country is alike interesting 
to the traveler and the scientist. Within its hmits 
are the grandest m.ountain peaks and canons, lakes 
of surpassing beauty, cascades, rivers and valleys, 
dells and grottoes the most interesting, and the 
richest silver mining regions in the world. Through- 
out the State are numberless hot springs, some of 
which possess valuable medicinal properties. The 
sulphurous waters in the vicinity of Virginia City, 
known as " Steamboat Springs," rise to the height 
of several feet. The name is given from the pecu- 
har sound of the spouting waters. In Carson val- 
ley, at the foot of the Sierras, less than a score of 
miles distant from Virginia, is Carson, the Capital 
of the State. It is so called in honor of the noted 
trapper,Kit Carson, whose extraordinary experiences 
are well known to the reader. This valley is the 
most extensive and fertile of any region in the State. 



444 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

It is in delightful contrast with the barren and 
sterile regions which constitute the chief portions 
of the Territory. 

We visited charming lake Tahoe, which reminded 
us vividly of Yellow^stone Lake, in Wyoming's field 
of wonders. It is nearly as high — being a mile 
above the sea level — and no less interesting or beau- 
tiful. Crossing its placid surface for its whole 
extent, fully twenty miles, in the little steamer, we 
were struck with the wonderful transparency of its 
waters. Objects can be distinctly seen a hundred 
feet below the glassy surface. It is of variable 
depth; at some places the lead descends for twelve, 
and even fifteen hundred feet. The sunlight falling 
upon the surface, gives different tints to different 
depths, the shallow water appearing of greenish 
hue, while in greater depths the color deepens into 
blue. The black sandy shores furnish a setting in 
delightful contrast with the waters of the lake, 
which, with the dark-green pine and fir trees, valleys 
of rich verdure, lofty mountains with gigantic rocks, 
to which fancy gives a variety of names, and unpre- 
tentious hills adorned with evergreens, are all won- 
der-features that form a picture of rarest beauty — 
unsurpassed in any region of the world. It is the 
Lake Como of America; more beautiful than that 
liquid gem of Switzerland. Nevada and California 
share in the possession of this peerless lake. The 
State line extends across it. 

There are many valleys, of small extent, in differ- 
ent parts of the State, that offer attractions to the 
ranchmen, as pasturage for their herds. The bunch 
grass and the seeds of the white sage — which ex- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 445 

tends all over the vast Territory — furnish the best 
of sustenance for the cattle. The sage pods, con- 
taining the seeds, open with the approach of winter. 
What may result from irrigation, in the future, 
remains to be seen, but Nevada will never be dis- 
tinguished for its agriculture ; the seasons are too 
short, the soil generally too sterile to warrant con- 
fident hope of grand results from farming industry. 
Mining is the great pursuit, and marvelous are, 
and long have been its results. 

The great popular excitement, in 1849, over the 
wonderful discoveries in the county of Washoe, upon 
Frazer River, as well as in many places in Califor- 
nia, are matters of history, well-known to the 
reader ; but as great as was the occasion for such 
excitement, the later discoveries of silver have 
proved greater. The famous Comstock mine sent 
forth its many millions, and was the marvel of the 
world in 1866-7. It was then the richest lode in 
the world, but in that year grander discoveries were 
made in the region of the White Pine Mountains, 
120 miles from Elko, Nevada, the nearest station 
on the great Pacific Railroad. The summit of the 
mountains which is covered with a heavy growth 
of white pine trees, is ten thousand feet above sea 
level. Sixteen miles to the east of this mountain, 
is Treasure HiU. In the autumn of 1867, the first 
mine — the "Hidden Treasure," was discovered and 
opened, and a few weeks later, the "Eberhardt" 
was located, and operations begun, revealing the 
richest and most productive silver lode in the 
world. 

The hmits of this volume wiU not admit of a 



446 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

statement in detail of the conditions of the great 
mines of Nevada or of Cahfornia, nor is the state- 
ment necessary, for the facts are known to the 
w^orld. True fissure silver mines can probably never 
be exhausted — surely not for centuries, and Nevada 
will ever continue its supremacy as the great "Silver 
State." 

What grand results, what advantages to Ameri- 
cans, especially, and to the world generally, have 
ensued as the consequence of the discoveries of the 
precious metals in this country ! To appreciate the 
vastness of these results, the great benefit to man- 
kind, we have only to compare the condition and 
resources of our country now% with those of a little 
more than a quarter of a century ago. The com- 
parison, even without the aid of tabular statistics, 
will enable us to recognize and appreciate the 
wondrous changes that have thus been wrought, 
and lead to a consideration of the possible and prob- 
able good yet to ensue, from the same mighty 
influence. The prosperous and productive States 
which have sprung into being, and now form so 
important parts of the great Union, the facilities of 
communication and transportation, the vast addition 
to our trade and commerce, are grand results which, 
under ordinary circumstances, might have required 
centuries for their accomplishment and develop- 
ment, without the immediate and special causes, 
which hastened their occurence. 

Whether we view the agencies, which have 
achieved such marvelous ends, as the special provi- 
dence of Heaven, designed to ennoble, magnify and 
perpetuate this nation, with its glorious institutions^ 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 447 

or, the happy accidents of fortune, all will concede 
that the discoveries have proved of immense and 
far-reaching importance to the nation and the whole 
world ; and that the treasures which have tiius far 
been but lightly drawn upon, considering their in- 
calculable or boundless extent, will, in the near 
future, work other results as grand in their con- 
ception, as wonderful in their execution, must be 
apparent to all thinking minds. The increase of 
our commerce in the Pacific, the facilities of com- 
munication with China, with Japan, and other parts 
of the w^orld, as well as a greater unity of this coun- 
try, in all its interests and benefits, are due, in a 
very great degree, to the discoveries of the rich 
mining regions of our western domains. In the 
results, which we now contemplate with pride and 
eminent satisfaction, we behold an earnest of other 
good, that must in the natural course of events, 
certainly and speedily follow. It requires no pro- 
phetic vision, no stretch of fancy, to foresee for the 
West, and hence for the whole nation, that other 
States with their grand resources will, ere the lapse 
of many years, glitter in the constellation of the 
Union, that new and important avenues of trade 
will be opened, other extensive lines of communi- 
cation established connecting opulent cities — the 
boundaries of which have as yet neither been 
mapped, nor entered the busy brains that are evolv- 
ing the grand problem of America's noblest ambi- 
tion ; new net-works of telegraph will flash new and 
starthng announcements of still other and prolific 
sources of prosperity ; regions as lovely as the Vale 
of Cashmere, are inviting the coming of the white 



448 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

man ; regions as lavish in wealth as those that have 
freely yielded their ghttering treasures, invite his 
coming, and perhaps before another decade, this 
vision \^11 become a reality, and the sound of the 
cannon in the East, rejoicing in the nation's anni- 
versary will echo among the hills of now unpeopled 
regions of the West, and the national flag will wave 
over prosperous settlements and rising cities that 
are to be. 

The mind can scarcely exaggerate the possibili- 
ities of the near future of this country, in reflecting 
upon the achievements which have been effected 
since the news of the gold discoveries in California 
first reached the ears of even Americans, who were 
poring over our maps, to find, if possible, the 
boundaries of the " Great American Desert," and 
the head waters of the Missouri, and wondering of 
what practical use and value to civilized man would 
be the wild lands of the Indian-peopled West ; when 
Missouri and Illinois were the boundaries of civiliza- 
tion, and beyond their frontiers were only hunting- 
grounds of savages. Scarcely had the world ceased 
to wonder for the growth of California, when stiU 
more wonderful discoveries began in the great chain 
of mountains, and have continued to the present 
hour. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 449 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

■California — Varieties of Climate— Beautiful Scenery— The wonders of 
the Yosemite. 

It appears from the reports of the land office that 
Cahfornia is eight hundred miles in length, and one 
hundred and ninety miles in breadth, and contains 
an area of 189,000 square miles ; but another reliable 
authority places the area at 155,000 or 99,200,000 
acres, of which forty millions may be regarded as 
agricultural land; the coast line extends eleven 
hundred miles. The State lies between the 32d and 
42d degrees of latitude, and nearly the whole of it 
is west of the Sierra Nevada. No known region 
of the globe of equal extent comprises such numer- 
ous and marked divisions, volcanic peaks, rugged 
mountains, beautiful valleys, sterile regions, commo- 
dious bays, grand rivers and waterfalls, picturesque 
lakes, extensive marshes, broad prairies and stately 
forests, as are embraced within the boundaries of 
California. 

Several authors have attempted to define the to- 
pography of the State, and among them J. S. Hit- 
tell, to whose comprehensive work upon the " Re- 
sources of Cahfornia " the reader desiring to pursue 
the subject is especially referred. The State is dis- 
tinguished for its vast mineral wealth, its superior 
•commercial facilities, and its picturesque scenery. 
The many millions of dollars taken from the gold 
mines have affected the markets of labor and money 

•-i9 



450 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

throughout the civihzed world. Her mining and 
commercial history is well known to the reader. 

My first visit to California was in 1849, when our 
facilities of travel were limited to individual locomo- 
tion, and a mule that would travel only when the 
inclination or incentive was strong to do so ; the 
days when first-class hotels were constructed of 
cotton fabrics, and when all the world rushed hither 
to collect a few scattered millions, and return again 
to civilization to enjoy a life of luxury and ease. 
How patiently we climbed the rugged rocks of the 
Isthmus, and how bitterly w^e complained of the 
tardy and slow moving steamers, how we toiled, 
and how the millions we were to have gathered in a 
trice, eluded our grasp ! 

How very difterent now the conditions of country 
and people ! Now content to let the millions go — 
our object is to see the glorious State, and to make 
a few pen pictures of what then we had no time to 
see — eyes and hands having all and more than they 
could do to gather up the millions. 

The climate of California is conducive to health. 
In the valleys, it has the general character of that 
of Spain. Its winters are warmer, and its summers 
cooler, than in the Eastern States. There are dif- 
ferent climates in the different parts of the State — 
one for the western slope of the Coast Range; one 
for the low lands of the Sacramento Basin ; another 
for the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Basin ; another 
for the Great Basin of Utah; another for the coast, 
south of Point Conception, and still another for the 
Colorado Desert. The sea breeze is a prominent 
feature in the general chmate of Cahfornia In the 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 451 

summer, its force is stronger than in the winter. 
It prevails in the day-time, and the land breeze 
comes in the summer nights. The chmate of the 
State resembles that of Italy, in its general charac- 
ter, but has not its objectionable effect of depressing 
the mental or physical powers. In San Francisco, 
the average number of hot days in a year is only 
seven, and often in a series of years not a single hot 
day occurs. In twenty years, the number of cold 
nights, those in which the thermometer fell to 
thirty- two degrees, Fah., was but seventy-four. 
On an average there are 220 perfectly clear days in 
a year — days without a cloud, in the Sacramento' 
Basin. New York has scarcely half as many clear 
days in any single year. The "rainy season" oc- 
curs between the first of November and first of June. 
It must not be supposed that the rain falls continu- 
ally during the season ; it does not fall at any other 
time, except in occasional light showers. In a year 
there is not more than half the rain-fall in inches in 
San Francisco that there is in Portland, Maine, or 
St. Louis ; it is about half as great as in the States 
east of the Mississippi. 

In the Sacramento vaUey there have been four 
floods in the last quarter of a century, and on an 
average two periods of drought to one flood. Dew 
seldom falls, and thunder storms in Cahfornia are 
very rare ; they are sometimes witnessed high up 
in the mountains and in the Great Basin, but rarely 
in any of the low land of the State. The climate 
of the coast is more equable and more conducive to 
health than that of Italy, Greece or Spain. Fruits, 
trees, cereals, etc., are unsurpassed, if mdeed 



452 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

equalled, in rapidity of healthful growth, elsewhere 
in the world. 

Very much of the scenery of California is exquis- 
itely beautiful. The pecuhar clearness of the atmos- 
phere gives a great range to vision. It has been 
well said that " the mountainous character of the 
State, not only prevents monotony and secures a 
rich variety of landscapes, but gives them extent 
and grandeur. The large rivers, the high snow- 
peaks and ridges, wide bays, forests of the largest 
and most graceful evergreens, parks of majestic 
oaks, natural meadows covered in the Spring with 
brilliant grasses and flowers, are all magnificent." 
The low lands are mostly bare of timber, with here 
and there a grove of oaks and lines of trees and 
bushes along the water courses. The coast valleys 
are very beautiful. 

The distinguishing features of the country, to 
which all travelers turn most eagerly for sight- 
seeing, are the Yosemite, the Big Tree Groves, the 
Geysers, the Petrified Forest, Mt. Diablo, Mt. St. 
Helena, Mt. Talmapais, Mt. Shasta, the California 
Alps, Clear Lake and Lake Tahoe — the latter we 
have already briefly described. 

The Yosemite Valley and Falls are of astonishing 
grandeur and sublimity. The whole region is of the 
wildest and most picturesque character. The fol- 
lowing excellent description of its wonders is given 
by Richardson, in his work, "Beyond the Missis- 
sippi." 

"After four days' hard travel from San Francisco, 
we galloped out of the pine woods, dismounted, 
stood upon the rocky precipice of Inspiration Point, 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 453 

and looked down into Yosemite as one from a house- 
top looks down into Ms garden, or as he would view 
the interior of some stupendous, roofless cathedral, 
from the top of one of its towering walls. In the 
distance, across the gorge, were snow-streaked 
mountains. Eight under us was the narrow, wind- 
ing basin of meadow, grove and shining river, shut 
in by granite walls, from two thousand to five thous- 
and feet high, — walls with immense turrets of bare 
rock, — walls so upright and perfect, that an expert 
crag-man can climb out of the valley at only three 
or four points. 

Flinging a pebble from the rock upon which we 
stood, and looking over the brink, I saw it fall more 
than half -a mile before striking. Glancing across 
the narrow, profound chasm, I surveyed an un- 
broken, seamless wall of granite, two-thirds of a 
mile high, and more than perpendicular — the top 
projecting one hundred and fifty feet over the base. 
Turning toward the upper end of the valley, I be- 
held a half-dome of rock, one mile high, and on its 
summit a solitary, gigantic cedar, appearing like 
the merest twig. Originally a vast granite moun- 
tain, it was riven from top to bottom by some ancient 
convulsion, which cleft assunder the everlasting 
hills, and rent the great globe itself. 

The measureless, inclosing walls, with these lead- 
ing towers and many other turrets — gray, brown and 
white rock, darkly veined from summit to base with 
streaks and ribbons of faUing water, — hills, almost 
upright, yet studded with tenacious firs and cedars ; 
and the deep-down level floor of grass, with its 
thread of river and pigmy trees, all burst upon me 



454 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

at once. Nature had lifted her curtain to reveal 
the vast and the infinite. It elicited no adjectives, 
no exclamations. With bewildering sense of divine 
power and human littleness, I could only gaze in 
silence, till the view strained my brain and pained 
my eyes, compelling me to turn aw^ay and rest from 
its oppressive magnitude. 

Hiding for two hours, down, down, among sharp 
rocks and dizzy zigzags, w4iere the five ladies of 
our party found it difficult to keep in their saddles, 
and narrowly escaped pitching over their horses' 
heads, we were in the valley, entering by the Mari- 
posa trail. The length of the valley or cleft is nine 
miles ; its average width three-fourths of a mile. 

Up the valley for five miles, past Bridal Veil Fall, 
runs the Merced, fresh from the Sierras. Delight- 
ful and exhilarating, though a little chilly, for the 
swimmer, it is so perfectly transparent as to cheat 
the eye, and beguile beyond his depth, any one at- 
tempting to wade it. Crossing it by a rustic log 
bridge, we are in a smooth, level meadow of tall 
grass, variegated with myriads of wild-flowers, 
including prim roses of yellow and crimson, and a 
lily-shaped blossom of exquisite purple, known as 
the Ithuriel Spear. 

The meadow is fringed with groves of pines and 
spreading oak, and on one side bounded by the 
everlasting walls. The pines, like those of Wash- 
ington Territory, are simply height, slenderness, 
symmetry. The delicate tracery of the branch is 
beautiful beyond description ; but the trunk is com- 
paratively small. I procured a photograph of two, 
wonderfully regular and graceful, and more than 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 455 

two hundred feet high, which dwarfed to a child's 
block-house, a large frame- dwelling at their feet. 
In the evening, illuminated and softened by the 
full moon, the beauty of the valley was marvelous. 
The bright lights of the distant house shone through 
the deep pines, and the river's low gurgling, faintly 
disturbed the air. At times immense boulders, 
breaking from the summits, rolled down thunder- 
ing, and filling the valley with their loud reverber- 
ations. 

The rock mountains are the great feature ; in- 
deed, they are Yosemite. The nine granite walls 
which range in altitude from three to six thousand 
feet, are the most striking examples on the globe 
of the masonry of Nature. Their dimensions are 
so vast that they utterly outrun our ordinary stan- 
dards of comparison. One might as well be told of 
a wall, upright, like the side of a house for ten 
thousand miles, as for two-thirds of one mile. 

Cathedral rocks have two turrets, and look like 
some Titanic religious pile. Sentinel towers alone, 
grand and hoary. The South Dome, a mile high, 
is really a semi-dome. Cleft from top to bottom, 
one-half of it went on the other side of the chasm 
and disappeared, when the great mountains were 
rent in twain. The gigantic North Dome is as 
round and perfect as the cupola of the National 
Capitol. ' Three Brothers' is a triple-pointed mass 
of sohd granite. All these rocks, and scores of 
lesser ones, which would be noticeable any where 
else in the world, exhibit vegetation. Hardy ce- 
dars, thrusting roots into imperceptible crevices of 
their"upright sides — apparently growing out of un- 



456 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

broken stone — have braved a thousand years, the 
battle and the breeze. 

El Capitain is grandest of all. No tuft of beard 
shades or fringes its closely shaven face. No tenac- 
ious vine, even, can fasten its tendrils, to climb that 
smooth, seamless, stupendous wall. There it will 
stand, grandeur, massiveness, indestructibility, till 
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and 
the elements melt with fervent heat. Its Indian 
nanie is Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah. Both this and the 
Spanish word signify "the leader;" but were ap- 
phed in the sense of the Supreme Being. It ought 
to be called Mount Abraham Lincoln. 

One noble mountain most appropriately com- 
memorates Thomas Starr King. 

Hutchings' affords a perfect view of Yosemite 
Falls, a mile distant. In April and May, when melt- 
ing snows swell the stream to a deep torrent, they 
are grand; but then the valley is half flooded. In 
late summer their creek shrinks to a skeleton ; and 
they look small because their surroundings are so 
vast. Niagara itself would dwarf beside the rocks 
in this vaUey. 

Yet Yosemite is the loftiest water-fall in the w^orld. 
Think of a cataract, or cascade, of half-a mile with 
only a single break ! It is sixteen times higher than 
Niagara. Twelve Bunker Hill monuments stand- 
ing upright, one upon another, would barely reach 
its summit. Ossa upon Pelion becomes a tame and 
meaningless comparison. 

We did not climb to the rapids and foot of the 
Upper Fall ; that is difficult, hazardous and exhaust- 
ing. Nor did we go to the extreme summit ; that 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 457 

requires a circuitous ride of twenty-five miles out of 
the valley. But we spent much time at the base of 
the Lower Fall, shut in by towering walls of dark 
granite. The basin abounds in rocks — some as large 
as a dwelling house— which have fallen from the 
top. Spreading my blankets upon one of these, 
almost under the fall, I found it a smooth bed, 
though a little damp from spray; and spent the 
night there to see the cataract in the varying illu- 
minations and shadows of sunlight, twilight, star- 
hght, and moonlight. 

Much of the water turns to mist before reaching 
the bottom ; yet looking up from under it, the vol- 
ume seems great. Six hundred feet above, a body 
of ragged, snowy foam with dishevelled tresses, 
rushes over the brink, and comes swinging down in 
slender column, swayed to and fro by the wind like 
a long strand of lace. For four hundred feet the 
descent is unrufiled; then, striking a broad, in- 
chning rock, like a roof of a house, the water spreads 
over it — a thin, shining, transparent apron, fringed 
with delicate gauze — and glides swiftly to the bot- 
tom. By moonlight the whole looks like a long 
white ribbon, hanging against the brown wall, with 
its lower end widening and unraveled. 

Bridal Veil Fall, unbroken, much narrower, and 
softened by a delicate mist which half hides it, is a 
strip of white fluttering foam, which the wind 
swings like a silken pendulum. It is spanned by a 
rainbow; and at some points the thin, glass-like 
sheet reveals every hue of the wall behind it. Be- 
fore reaching the end of its long descent, a rill no 
longer, it is completely transformed to spray — the 
Niobe of cascades dissolved in tears. 



458 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Above Hutchings' the valley breaks into three 
canons, and the Merced into three Forks. North 
Fork passes through Mirror Lake — the very soul of 
transparency. It reflects grass, trees, rocks, moun- 
tains and sky with such perfect and startling vi\nd- 
ness that one cannot believe them images and 
shadows. He fancies the world turned upside down, 
and shrinks back from the lake, lest he should tum- 
ble over the edge into the inverted dome of blue 
sky. 

On the Middle or main Fork is Vernal Fall, diffi- 
cult of access. Leaving our horses three miles 
from the hotel, we climbed for two weary hours 
along dizzy shelves and up sharp rocks, where the 
trail rises one thousand feet to the mile; — pine 
woods all around us ; at our left and far below, the 
river chafing and roaring in its stony bed. Then 
we stood at the foot of Vernal Fall. Bridal Veil 
and Yosemite are on little lateral creeks ; Vernal is 
the full, swelling torrent of the Merced. Those 
creep softly and slowly down, as if in pain and hesi- 
tation. This rushes eagerly over gloomy brown 
rocks; then leaps headlong for more than three 
hundred feet, roaring like a miniature Niagara. 

Rainbows of dazzling brightness shine at its base. 
Others of the party reported many ; my own eyes, 
defective as to colors, beheld only two. But after- 
ward, when alone, I saw what, to Hebrew prophet, 
had been a vision of heaven, or the visible presence 
of the Almighty. It was the round rainbow — the 
complete circle. In the afternoon sun I stood upon 
a rock a hundred feet from the base of the fall, and 
nearly on a level with it. There were two briUiant 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 459 

rainbows of usual form — the crescent, the bow 
proper. But while I looked, the two horns of the 
inner or lower crescent suddenly lengthened, ex- 
tending on each side to my feet — an entire circle, 
perfect as a finger-ring. In two or three seconds it 
passed away, shrinking to the first dimensions. 
Ten minutes later it formed again; and again as 
suddenly disappeared. Every sharp gust of wind 
showering the spray over me, revealed for a mo- 
ment, the round rainbow. Completely drenched, I 
stood for an hour- and- a-half ; and saw, fully twenty 
times, that dazzling circle of violet and gold, on a 
ground-work of wet dark rock, gay dripping flowers 
and vivid grass. I never looked upon any other 
scene in nature so beautiful and impressive. 

Chmbing a high rock wall, by crazy wooden lad- 
ders, we continued up the canon for three-quarters- 
of-a-mile to Nevada Fall, where the Merced tumbles 
seven hundred feet, in white and swaying mistiness ! 
Near the bottom it strikes an inclined rock, and 
spreads upon it in a sheet of floating silver tissue a 
hundred and thirty feet wide. 

Passing over a wide, gaping creek, or chasm in 
this rocky grade, the thin sheet of water breaks into 
dehcate, snowy net-work; then into myriads of 
shining beads, and finally into long sparkling 
threads — an exquisite silken fringe to the great 
white curtain. 

These names are peculiarly fitting. Bridal Veil 
indeed, looks like a veil of lace. In summer, when 
Bridal Veil and Yosemite dwarf, Vernal still pours 
its ample torrent. And Nevada is always white as 
-a snow-drift. 



460 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

The Yosemite is height; the Vernal is volume; 
the Bridal Veil is softness ; but the Nevada is height, 
volume and softness combined. South Park Cata- 
ract, most inaccessible of all, we did not visit. In 
spring, each fall has twenty times as much water as 
in summer. 

On the whole, Yosemite is incomparably the most 
wonderful feature of our continent. European 
travelers agree that transatlantic scenery has noth- 
ing at all approaching it. Unless the Himalayas 
hide some rival, there is no spot, the wide world 
over, of such varied beauty and measureless gran- 
deur. 

Climbing out of the valley, we cast one longing, 
lingering look behind, from Inspiration Point. 
Here is the best comprehensive view, not of separ- 
ate features, but of the whole. This vast open 
Cathedral, which would hold fifty millions of wor- 
shippers, is true to the ancient imperious maxim of 
architecture : its mean width, about equals the 
average height of its walls. Our eyes, now adjusted 
to its distances and dimensions, were no longer 
pained by the amazing spectacle. At last we 
turned away from this sublimest page in all the 
book of nature. I think few can come from its 
study without hearts more humble and reverent, 
lives more worthy and loyal. 

Yosemite Valley is four thousand feet above sea 
level. After climbing out and re-passing Inspira- 
tion Point, we still ascend ; and then ride for sev- 
eral miles, at an altitude of about eight thousand 
feet. Here, where snow is sometimes twenty feet 
deep, are meadows of richest grass and brightest 
flowers. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 



461 



The pyramidal, slender pine abounds, frequently 
two hundred feet high, its trunk and branches gor- 
geous with yellow moss. So does the exquisite, 
blue-tipped, silvery-fir. This profuse vegetation, 
with lark-spur, daisy, lily, honey suckle and godola, 
is at a height which, in New England would frost- 
kill tree, flower, grass and twig. 




462 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 



CHAPTEK XXXI. 

Big Tree Groves— Geysers— Petrified Forests — Sublime Mountain 
Scenery — Lakes of Rarest Beauty — Natural Bridges — Caecades — 
Canons— Gorgeous Flowers — Indians — Former Races of Men — 
Wild Animals, etc. 

Various theories are entertained concerning the 
formation of the Yosemite Valley; the one gen- 
erally accepted being that offered by Prof. Whitney, 
viz : that the surface of the region "sank, owing to 
its support being withdrawn from underneath, dur- 
ring some of those convulsive movements, which 
must have attended the upheaval of so extensive 
and elevated a chain." 

There is a similar but smaller valley on the Tuo- 
lumne Eiver, twelve miles further north. It is 
three miles long, half-a-mile wide, and is bounded 
by granite cliffs, which rise from 1,500 to 2,500 feet 
in height. Above this wonderful valley, the canon 
extends a distance of thirty miles into the moun- 
tains, with vertical walls and remarkable scenery, 
including several high cascades. On the south of 
Mt. Whitney, King's Eiver forms a grand canon, 
more than a mile in depth and ten miles in length, 
with a level bottom, in one place half-a-mile in width. 

In Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa and two other 
counties, there are groves of gigantic trees, called 
Sequoias. The one in Calaveras County contains 
one hundred and fifty trees, ninety of which are 
more than fifteen feet in diameter, and ten rather 
more than thirty feet. 



AND WONDERS OP THE WEST. 46d 

One of the trees, which has fallen, must have been 
four hundred and fifty feet high and forty feet in 
diameter. Through the hollow trunk, a man can 
ride on horseback, seventy-five feet. In 1854, one 
of the largest of these forest giants — ninety-two- 
feet in circumference — was cut down. Since then 
the surface of the stump has been used occasionally 
by dancing parties, for theatrical performances, etc. 
An examination of its rings showed that it was 
about two thousand years old. The largest trees 
seem to have been broken at the top by snow, which 
often falls upon the Sierra Nevada to a great depth 
— sometimes of nearly twenty feet. The State 
Grove, in Mariposa County, fifteen miles south of 
the Yosemite, the largest and finest grove of all, 
has been given by the National Government to 
California for a public pleasure resort. It has 427 
trees, of which one hundred and thirty-four are 
over fifteen feet in diameter, eighteen over twenty- 
five and three over thirty-three feet. 

The cones of the mammoth pine-trees are cylin- 
drical, and sometimes nearly two feet in length. 
Those of the Big trees are round and not larger 
than apples. Seedlings from them are growing in 
every country of Europe. They are numerous in 
English parks. Two hundred have been planted in 
Central Park, New York. Through this State, as 
well as in Oregon, gigantic redwood trees are very 
numerous, and on the summit of the Sierras, almost 
a mile above sea level, grow sugar pines, ten and 
twelve feet in diameter. 

The big tree — Sequoia — though not taller than 
some of the trees of Austraha, is the largest vegeta- 



464 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ble production on the globe. It is supposed to have 
generally attained a height of 350 feet, and to be at 
least thirty-five feet in diameter. It is indigenous 
only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, be- 
tween the 86th and 38th degree of latitude, at ele- 
vations from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. 

In California, trees flourish at an elevation of 
11,000 feet; two species thrive 1,000 feet above the 
snow-line, and five species that reach a diameter of 
three feet grow in places where the temperature is 
below the freezing point almost the entire year. 
The snow-plant is frequently found below the snow 
line, but looks prettiest when its brilliant red tints 
appear amidst the snowy mantle. 

Mt. Diablo, thirty miles east of San Francisco, is 
an isolated cone, 3,856 feet in height, in the midst 
of a fertile and populous country. It overlooks San 
Francisco, Santa Clara, Sacramento, and many 
other notable localities, and commands a view of 
the Sierra Nevada for a distance of 250 miles, and 
of an area of forty thousand square miles, equal to 
the entire State of New York. There is probably 
no point on the earth's surface from which so vast 
an extent of country can be seen, as from this 
mountain. Mt. Shasta, at the north, and Mt. San 
Bernardino, at the south, occupy positions of simi- 
lar prominence. Shasta, 7,000 feet in height, is 
mantled with snow, most of the year, for a vertical 
mile from the summit, and is a sublime feature of 
the landscape. It is visible in any direction for a 
hundred miles. In the Sierra Nevada, between the 
35th and 38th degrees of latitude, there are one 
hundi'ed peaks that rise above 10,000 feet, and one 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 465 

that reaches fourteen thousand nine hundred feet. 

The geysers are among the wonders of Cahfornia. 
Down the western slope of the mountains which 
separate Clear Lake from the basin of Russian 
Eiver, is Pluton River, near which, at an elevation 
of seventeen hundred feet above sea level, are the 
geysers — numerous hot and cold, quiet and boihng 
springs are seen within a few feet of each other — 
the waters differing widely in color, odor and taste. 
There is an orifice of about eight inches in the side 
of the hill, from which rises a large volume of steam 
to a height of from fifty to over two hundred feet. 
The noise of the escaping steam is almost deafen- 
ing. The " Devil's Punch Bowl " is a large hole 
six feet across, in the side of the hill. The dark 
liquid in this bowl is always boiling with heat, and 
the vapor deposits black flowers of sulphur in the 
vicinity. 

In the ridge separating Napa from Santa Rosa, 
and five miles west of Calistoga, are from twenty to 
thirty petrified trees, prostrate upon the ground. 
To this group has been given the name "Petrified 
Forest." Besides these remarkable petrifactions, 
others are also found at intervals on the ridge, 
nearly down to the bay. The largest is five feet in 
diameter and about fifteen feet in length. No 
branches have been found, nor more than twenty 
feet of the trunk of a single tree. The petrifaction 
is complete; the woody fibre has entirely disap- 
peared, and has been replaced by grayish stone — 
seemingly, carbonate of lime, in which the grain of 
the timber is distinctly preserved. All the stone 
trunks are broken transversely, the breaks having 
occurred, evidently in the stony condition. 



466 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

The rock of the ridge is a volcanic sandstone. 
The trees were redwood, of the species still growing 
in the same region. Another similar "petrified 
forest" is found in the valley of Cedar Creek, in the 
northeastern part of the State. 

There are many cascades besides those of the 
wonderful valleys already described. " There is 
a cataract about five hundred feet high on Fall 
River, w^hich flows into the Middle Fork of Feather 
Biver ; one of three hundred and eighty feet, where 
the South Fork of the American River flows down 
over a convex rock, looking hke a streak of snow 
when seen from a distance ; one of sixty-feet in the 
San Antonio River, Calaveras County ; another of 
seventy-five feet on the same stream, which falls 
fourteen hundred feet within a mile; and one of 
three hundred feet, called the "Rifle-box Falls," 
in Deer Creek, Nevada County." 

There are five natural bridges in the State, all of 
which are interesting to tourists. The largest of 
these is on a small creek which empties into the 
Hay Fork of the Trinity River ; a ledge of rock 300 
feet wide crosses the valley. Below this rock, the 
creek flows through an arch twenty feet high by 
eighty across. The rock above the arch is one hun- 
dred and fifty feet deep. On Lost River there are 
two natural bridges, about thirty feet apart. Each 
is from ten to fifteen feet wide and about eighty 
feet long. One of these is used by travelers. On 
Coyote Creek, in Tuolumne County are two natural 
bridges half a mile apart. These are 285 feet long, 
thirty- six feet high. 

Of the caves in California, which, by the way, are 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 467 

not very numerous, the "Alabaster," seven miles 
from Auburn, in Placer County, is the most noted. 
It has two chambers, the larger of which is about 
two hundred feet long, and about half as wide. It 
contains many very beautiful stalactites and stalag- 
mites. The " Cave of Skulls," in Calaveras County, 
when first discovered contained a great number of 
human skulls and bones, all incrusted in carbonate 
or sulphate of lime. These bones are now in the 
Smithsonian Institute. 

The mirage is often seen in some parts of Cah- 
fornia. "All the phenomena of this illusion," says 
Prof. Blake, " are exhibited on a grand scale upon 
the Colorado Desert. Mountain ranges, so far dis- 
tant as to be below the horizon, are made to rise 
into view in distorted and changing outlines. In- 
verted images of smaller objects, and apparent lakes 
of clear water, are often seen, and invite the trav- 
eler to turn aside for refreshment. The first exhi- 
bition of a mirage that was seen by our party, was 
from the margin of the plain at Carriso Creek, look- 
ing toward the Gila, about ninety miles distant. It 
was early in the morning, and the eastern sky had 
that golden hue which precedes the rising sun. 
Tall, blue columns, and the spires of churches and 
overhanging precipices seemed to stand upon the 
verge of the plain. These outlines were changing 
gradually, and, as the sun rose higher, they were 
slowly dissipated. After reaching Fort Yuma, and 
witnessing the strangely precipitous and pinnacled 
outhne of the mountains beyond, it was at once ap- 
parent that the mirage consisted of their distorted 
images. When we were upon the northern part of 



468 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the desert, the peak^of Signal Mountain was often 
distorted and raised above the horizon. The points 
of distant ranges also seemed at times to be ele- 
vated above the surface precisely as the headlands 
of a coast sometimes appear to rise above the water 
at sea. 

The plants, birds, quadrupeds and fishes of Cali- 
fornia are in many essential respects quite unlike 
those of other countries. In vegetation, California 
more closely resembles Southern Europe, than the 
States and Territories of the Mississippi valley. 
The species of trees and plants are comparatively 
few in number. The valleys and low hills abound 
in wild flowers, but nearly all bloom within a brief 
period. The forests are more frequently found on 
the mountains, and near the ocean, north of thirty- 
six degrees of latitude. The general barrenness of 
the hills is always remarked by travelers. Most of 
the valleys south of the 35th degree of latitude are 
treeless. The Sierra Nevada and the Western 
slope of the coast range have heavy forests, the 
timber being spruce, pine and fir. In some sections 
are found the redwood, laurel, arbor vitae, madrona, 
evergreen oak and other varieties. 

Among the various plants, there is one known 
as the ajnole, or soap-plant, the root of which, when 
rubbed in water, makes a lather. It was extensively 
used for washing by the Indians and Spanish Cali- 
fornians prior to the American conquest. The wild 
oat grows on hill and plain, and furnishes a large 
part of the wild pasture of the State. It is never 
threshed, but is excellent sustenance for cattle. 
The white California clover has a large yellowish- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST, 469 

white bloom, from an inch to an inch and a half in 
diameter, and is, a beautiful plant as an ornament 
for gardens. In some situations, where the earth 
is moist, it| grows to the height of two feet. Cah- 
fornia is perhaps the best grape country in the 
world. The grape region extends six hundred miles 
north and south, between latitude 32 and 41 degrees, 
with an'average breadth of one hundred miles. Hit- 
tell says : " The grape vine supposed to be the largest 
in the world, grows at Montecito, near Santa Bar- 
bara. It is of the Los Angeles variety, was planted 
in 1795, has a trunk 15 inches in diameter, and its 
branches are supported by an arbor 115 feet long 
and 78 feet wide. It has in a favorable year, borne 
four tons of grapes. It is, however, beginning to 
loose its vigor." 

There are a great variety and abundance of wild 
flowers in California, and they have different seasons 
for blooming; and in canons, where the soil is 
always moist, flowers may be seen every month in 
the year. 

In March, the grass of a valley may be hidden 
under red, in April under blue, and in May under 
yeUow bloom. Grace Greenwood says of the flowers 
in May: — "The grand California flower show is at 
its height. Anything more gorgeously beautiful 
than the display in meadows and wild pasture land, 
on hill side and river side, it were impossible for 
any one but a mad florist to imagine. Along the 
railroads on either hand runs continuously the rich, 
radiant bloom. Your sight becomes pained, your 
very brain bewildered by watching the gaUoping 
rainbow. There are great fields, in which flowers 



470 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

of many sorts are mingled in a perfect carnival of 
color ; then come exclusive family gatherings, where 
the blues, the crimsons or the purples have it all 
their o\\ti way; and every now and then you come 
upon great tracts, resplendent with the most royally 
gorgeous of all wild flowers, the yellow or orange 
poppy — 'the golden cup.' Every such tract where 
the sumptuous blossoms stand thick, reminds one 
of the 'Field of the cloth of gold.' They are pecu- 
liarly joyous looking flowers massed together, dan- 
cing and hob-nobbing, and lifting their golden 
goblets to be filled by the morning sun." The grass 
continues green till June, when it begins to change 
to a yellowish brown. The drought is fatal to the 
grass, and when the prairies of Indiana and Illinois 
are covered with snow, the valleys of California are 
dressed in brilliant verdure. 

"The azaleas of California are abundant and rich 
in perfume ; a species of calycanthus without fra- 
grance, is found in the canons, and the ceanothus 
or California lilac, of which there are many species, 
is a beautiful evergreen shrub, growing about ten 
feet high, with clusters of lilac-like flowers of 
various shades of blue, violet and red, according to 
the species. The tree produces a multitude of 
little twigs and a dense foliage and may be trimmed 
into almost any shape. 

In the southern parts of the State, and in the 
Colorado Desert, many varieties of cactus grow. 
The largest is the candelabrum which attains a 
height of fifty feet, and often has from two to six 
branches, half as thick as the trunk. These run 
out horizontally a foot or two, then turning at a 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



471 



right angle, rise vertically parallel with the main 
stem. The cactus is prized by the Indians for its 
abundant moisture, although its fruit is insipid. 
Several species of palm grow in the Colorado and 
Mojave Deserts, 
and one bears an 
edible date, but this 
is seldom found. 
Desert vegetation 
includes also the 
bayonet - tree, the 
mesquit - tree and 
the maguey or 
American aloe; the 
latter grows to the 
height of fifty feet. 
The ocean near 
the shore from the 
Golden Gatesouth- 
ward, has a great 
variety of sea- 
weeds, some of 
which are very 
beautiful. 

In past ages, the 
northern part of 
California was the 
scene of great' vol- 
canic activity. Many of the lava beds of the Sierra 
Nevada are prominent features of the landscape. 
About Mt.^Shasta, there are immense deposits of 
volcanic matter, and geologists maintain that at 
least ten thousand feet of the elevation of that peak 
s of volcanic origin. It is beheved that Mt. St. 




472 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

Helena is also an extinct volcano. Clear Lake^ 
which is twenty miles long, was doubtless the cra- 
ter of a volcano, and it is reasonable to believe that 
the geysers derive their heat from deep internal 
fires. • California has numerous dead rivers or chan- 
nels, in which once flowed large streams of water, 
but now filled with gravel; in these river beds,, 
large quantities of gold have been discovered. 

There are a great number of artesian wells in the 
State. In that part of Santa Clara County where 
water can be obtained by boring, there are no less 
than three hundred wells of a depth varying from 
fifty to four hundred feet. The water so obtained 
is used for irrigation and for manufacturing pur- 
poses. It is believed that the supply comes from 
subterranean streams, for the wells throw up living 
fish and Crustacea of various kinds; some of the 
wells discharge eyeless fish, similar to those found 
in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. The deeper the 
well, the warmer the water. Experiments have 
'shown that living fish thrown up from shallow wells 
quickly die, if put into wells of greater depth than 
those from whence they came, in consequence, per- 
haps, of a difference of temperature in the waters of 
the wells. 

The antedeluvian animals of California were 
wholly distinct from animals of the present day. 
The hills and mountains contain tiie bones of the 
mastodon, elephant. rhinoceros,hippopotamus,horse,. 
camel, whale, and a quadruped resembhng a tapir. 
Oyster shells, fifteen inches in length, are found 
neai- Corral Hollow, and Oyster Peak near Mt. 
Diablo is named for its fossils. The climate of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 473' 

California was probably tropical in the era of these 
extinct races; then the valleys were vast swamps 
and the mountains were clothed with a luxuriance 
of vegetation peculiar to the torrid zone. 

Many evidences exist warranting the opinion that 
the region was inhabited by human beings many 
thousands of years ago. In a little town in Cala- 
veras County, the skull of a man was found under 
four successive strata of lava, at a depth of 131 feet 
from the surface, in a miner's shaft. The first stra- 
tum was of black lava, forty feet deep ; then gravel 
three feet ; light lava thirty feet ; gravel five feet, 
and in alternate strata of lava and gravel. The 
most careful investigation of the facts fully sustains 
the truth of the discovery. Prof. Blake, of San 
Francisco, reported to the Academy of Sciences in 
1873, the discovery of artificial stone ornaments, 
etc., near San Francisco, indicating the existence 
of men in the Pliocene era. In 1859, the skeleton 
of a man was found, sixteen feet deep in the earth, 
in Los Angeles County. In 1855, two stone mor- 
tars, such as were used by the Indians for grinding 
acorns and grass seeds, were found near Diamond 
Springs, Eldorado County, at a depth of one hun- 
dred feet below the surface. In 1854, the skeletons 
of two men were found at Rattlesnake Bar, fourteen 
feet below the surface, and under ancient strata 
which had apparently not been disturbed from the 
time of their deposition. 

I have spoken of the salubrity of the chmate of 
the State; but there are certain meteorological 
conditions, now and then occurring in various 
places, which should also be mentioned. Cases are 



474 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

on record of a sirocco, or burning hot wind, visiting 
the coast. On Friday, June 17, 1859, one was felt 
at the town of Santa Barbara. That day will be 
long remembered by the inhabitants, from the burn- 
ing, blasting heat experienced, and the effects 
thereof. Indeed, it is said that for the period of 
thirty years, nothing in comparison had been felt in 
this country. The sun rose like a ball of fire, on 
that day ; but, though quite warm, no inconvenience 
was caused thereby until 2 o'clock P. M., when, 
•suddenly, a blast of heated air swept through the 
streets, followed quickly by others; and shortly 
afterwards the atmosphere became so intensely 
heated that no human being could withstand its 
force ; all sought their dAvellings and had to shut 
doors and windows and remain for hours confined 
to their houses. The effect of such intense and un- 
paralled heat was demonstrated by the death of 
many animals and birds. The trees were aU blasted, 
and the fruit, such as pears and apples, literally 
roasted on the trees, and the same as if they had 
been cast on live coals. But, strange to say, they 
were only burned on one side — the direction whence 
came the wind. All kinds of metal became so 
heated, that for hours nothing of the kind could be 
touched with the naked hands. The thermometer 
rose to nearly fever heat, in the shade. 

Near an open door, and during the prevalence of 
this properly-caUed sirocco, the streets were filled 
with impenetrable clouds of fine dust or pulver- 
ized clay. Whatever the cause of the phenomenon, 
we see its terrible eft'ects all around us in blighted 
trees, ruined gardens, blasted fruit, and almost a 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 475 

^general destruction of the vegetable kingdom here. 
A fisherman who was out at sea, came back with 
his arms all blistered." A similar occurrence of a 
hot wind six days later, in Stanislaus County, was 
reported by the Stockton journals. They mention 
its fatal effects upon horses and other animals, and 
say that at a public house, birds flew into the bar- 
room for shelter, so tame had they siiddenly be- 
come. Birds, in great numbers, fell dead from the 
trees as if they had been shot ; the while the ther- 
mometer was 113 degrees in the shade. 

In the Colorado Desert, and in some other dis- 
tricts in the southern part of the State, sand- 
storms similar to the simoons of Africa, but not so 
dangerous, occasionally occur. A Journalist thus 
speaks of one — " A huge, black cloud rising from 
the western horizon, warns the traveler of its 
approach. Rapidly it spreads over the sky, darkens 
the sun, and the fine particles of sand are swept 
before the gale in a dense and suffocating cloud; 
even the large gravel and pebbles are sometimes 
hfted from the plain and carried like hail before the 
force of the blast. The horses are blinded, paraly- 
zed with fear, and no urging can induce them to go 
forward ; and to go on would be folly ; the road and 
sun are hid from view; no land-marks are visible 
by which to be guided. The only course is to wait 
until the storm has passed, which will be, doubtless, 
in from six to ten hours." 

In every city, in every town and village through- 
out California, so far as our observation extended — 
and our stay was for several months for the sole 
purpose of observation — the inhabitants evince the 



476 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

most remarkable enterprise and perseverance. In 
many places, they have triumphed over apparently 
insurmountable obstacles and barriers to progress, 
and have accomplished wonders in every depart- 
ment of industry and art. A more hospitable and 
noble people does not exist. The citizens of San 
Francisco, especially seem to combine the distin- 
guishing characteristics of Chicago, St. Louis, 
Cincinnati and New York. 

Eminently enterprising without rashness, prompt 
in execution, and with taste and culture nowhere 
excelled, the people of San Francisco have built 
one of the most attractive and everyway delightful 
cities in this country, and with lavish hand have 
established all sorts of humanitarian institutions; 
and commensurate with their notable liberality in 
every worthy cause, they have prospered abund- 
antly from the earliest period of the history of the 
city to the present hour. The probity, integrity, 
enterprise and sound judgment of the commercial 
and mercantile houses of this and every large Cali- 
fornia city have given them a reputation the world 
over. The elegance of private residences, the mag- 
nificence of business establishments and emporiums 
of trade, the activity, industry, thrift and prosperity 
which characterize every department of business, 
in the leading cities of the State, are all matters 
which invite the observation and elicit the highest 
admiration of all visitors, who are cosmopolitan 
enough to discriminate intelligently and just enough 
to pronounce fairly upon them. 

A quarter of a century ago, the Indians of Cah- 
fornia numbered fifty thousand or more, but now 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 477 

scarcely one-tenth of the number remain. They 
have been robbed, driven away or killed by the 
white men. At the time of the first discovery of 
gold in California, nearly every little valley had its 
tribe, and there were scores of tribes in the Sacra- 
mento Basin and elsewhere in the State, but most 
of these bands have been destroyed — have fallen by 
whiskey and bullets of the white settlers. The Cah- 
fornia Indians, with the exception of the Mojaves, 
are supposed to belong to the Shoshone Nation. 
They are physically and mentally inferior to their 
relatives in Nevada, and vastly inferior to the In- 
dians, who lived a century ago east of the Missis- 
sippi. Until within a comparatively recent period, 
the California Indians knew nothing of the use of 
fire-arms, but now they are generally expert enough 
with them. The Indian men are about five feet 
and a half high, and the women little below five feet. 
Both men and women, are large in body, but slim 
in limbs, as compared with the white race. They 
wear but very little clothing, and are exceedingly 
filthy in their habits. The tribes are small, and 
have no wealth and no laws. Their rule is blood 
for blood. They have no marriage ceremony, and 
squaws who wish to remain mistresses of the wig- 
wam, or rather slaves of the lord, are always upon 
i]heir good behavior, and soundly beaten if they 
conduct ill. Their children are few, and mostly 
boys. They have no religious ceremonies. 

The wild Indians have no permanent place of resi- 
dence. Each tribe has a territory, and each family 
a wigwam or rancheria; these are usually on the 
banks of streams, in the vicinity of oak-trees, horse- 



478 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

chestnut bushes and patches of wild clover, upon 
the product of which in part they subsist. Such 
places generally have a picturesque scenery. They 
consist of acorns, clover, grass seed, grass hoppers, 
horse-chestnuts, fish, game, pine nuts, edible roots 
and berries. The acorns, which are very large, are 
collected by the squaws, who grind them and boil 
them into a paste or bake them into bread. The 
oven, a hole in the ground, is heated by hot stones. 
The bread is not very inviting in looks or in taste. 
The Indians use no utensils in the preparation of 
their food, beyond a mortar and water proof basket, 
and eat without knives or other conveniences except 
their fingers. With the exception of one or two tribes 
in the Colorado Desert, the wild Indians never 
tilled the soil. They are very familiar with the 
habits of wild animals. Hittell tells us, that they 
know precisely the character of the brushwood and 
ravines, in which the deer and bear hide during the 
day, and the places to which they go to feed in the 
morning and evening. In hunting deer and ante- 
lope in places where there is grass, the Indian wiU 
sometimes hold the skull and horns of a buck deer 
before him, and thus crawl within bow or gun shot. 
The Pit Eiver Indians dig pits and cover them 
with brush and grass, and thus catch deer, hares 
and other game. They often use nets for catching 
water fowl. Salmon are speared. The bow and 
arrow, spear net, glass or obsidian knife, mortar and 
basket are the only tools made by the Indian. 
Such were some of the habits and customs of the 
red men twenty years ago, but by contact with 
white men, they have modified their wild habits, 
and in many instances adopted worse ones. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 479' 

The largest and most formidable of the quadrupeds 
of California is the grizzly bear. When fully grown 
he is four feet high, seven feet long, and when fat,, 
weighs two thousand pounds, though generally he 
does not weigh over one thousand, being the largest 
of the carniverous animals. His body is hght grayish 
brown ; about the ears and on the back and legs dark 
brown; the hair is long, coarse and wiry, and stiff 
on the neck and shoulders. California was once 
infested with grizzlys, but they are now more seldom 
found. He lurks in the chaparral or bushes, whereas 
the black bear prefers the heavy forest. It is not 
an easy thing to kill a grizzly with a single bullet, 
and no expert hunter will fire upon one when the 
bear is lying down. His thick and coarse hair is 
almost as good as a shield or the hide of the rhino- 
ceros, and even when supposed to be mortally 
wounded, he will make a long and vigorous fight. 
His wound infuriates him and he becomes a terrible 
enemy, as his speed is almost equal to that of a 

horse. 
I recall an instance in which Barstow fired upon 

a grizzly at good range, and the bullet entered the 
animal's breast, but instead of dying as it was sup- 
posed he would, he dashed down toward Mr. Bar- 
stow with great fury, and that gentleman was 
obliged to run at all speed to escape, and even then 
he would have been overtaken, but seeing a tall and 
slender pine tree near at hand, he hastily chmbed 
up. The bear approached the tree, and reached up 
as far as possible, standing upon his hind legs, and 
failing to reach his enemy he waited for more than 
an hour, watching, and growling, and then deliber- 
ately walked away. 



480 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

It sometimes, indeed often occurs, that hunters 
are killed by these ferocious beasts ; but the animal 
seldom or never makes the first attack. Usually he 
will move off if he sees a man approaching, but 
wounded, he never retreats. The dam will attack 
any person who comes near her cubs. The grizzly 
generally feeds upon vegetables, roots and herbage, 
but is very fond of fresh pork, which, by the way 
his own flesh greatly resembles in taste. He is 
quiet during the day, but goes abroad at night, in 
quest of food. The cub of the grizzly is easily 
tamed and can be trained with as great facility as a 
Newfoundland dog. 

Among the wild animals of California are several 
species of bear, the cougar, wild-cat, gray wolf, 
coyote, foxes, badger, raccoon, opossum, mountain 
cat, porcupine, rabbits, deer, antelope, mountain 
sheep, seal, sea otter, sea lion, beaver and squirrels. 
Here we find the golden and bald eagles, hawks, 
vultures and a great variety of birds of plumage and 
of song. 

In California as in all the States and Territories 
west of the Mississippi, we find many thousands of 
immigrants coming from all parts of the world. 
Canada sends many thousands to Cahfornia, Kan- 
sas, Nebraska, Dakota, and indeed to every region 
offering extraordinary inducements to settlers; so 
too does England and all the countries of Europe, 
so does China, and while each and all are helping 
to develop our resources, some races are proving 
more serviceable than others. With our present 
knowledge derived from observation, it is not an 
easy thing to say what races will exert the greatest 
influence upon the destiny of the nation. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 481 

The race problem in this country, is far more 
difficult to solve than in England ; indeed, an accu- 
rate solution is manifestly impossible until a suffi- 
cient time shall have elapsed to give that oneness 
to our population which it necessarily lacks at the 
present time. We are not yet one people, we are 
many peoples, and all that can be done in a brief 
examination of our nationality, present and prospec- 
tive, is to judge from the leading characteristics of 
the many, what the one will be when it arrives. 
The wonderful variety of races to be found in the 
American K,epublic is an additional and far more 
important difficulty. No nation has ever drawn 
supphes of humanity from such widely diverse sourc- 
es. Egypt, at the height of her renown, was only 
a close corporation, composed of the tribes inhabit- 
ing the lower valley of the Nile. Greece prided 
herself upon the practical exclusion of "outside 
barbarians." Rome, when the foundations of her 
future empire were laid, was merely a concentra- 
tion and organization of the rude popular forces of 
Southern Italy. England is the common stock of 
only five roots — omitting the Romans from the cal- 
culation, as they were never in any sense fixed to 
British soil. 

In New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Bos- 
ton, New Orleans or St. Louis, one may meet in 
a single day's walk through the streets the repres- 
entatives of more distinct races of men than make 
up the combined nationahties of Egypt, Greece, 
Rome and England. America is hteraUy the home 
of an nations. The vast extent of our territory with 
its many millions of acres unreclaimed from prim- 



482 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

itive condition, and consequent cheapness of land; 
our democratic form of government, the opportuni- 
. ties offered for the acquisition of wealth, and the 
fascination which always attaches to a new country, 
all unite to stimulate immigration from the four 
quarters of the globe. Asia, Africa and Europe 
contribute to the growth of America, and are sev- 
erally largely represented in our fifty millions of 
people. Chinese, Negroes, Hebrews, Kussians, Ger- 
mans, Italians, Swiss, French, Dutch, Scandinavi- 
ans, Poles, Spanish, Portugese, Irish, Scotch, Welch, 
English, South Sea Islanders, Mexicans, South 
Americans meet here on the neutral ground and 
are working together for the formation of the one 
people, which in the near or remote future shall 
embrace the ruling quahties of all. Hence w^e find 
a very marked diversity of character and progress 
throughout the country, from the highest culture 
and refinement down to the lowest condition recog- 
nized as civilization, the various nationalities sev- 
erally exerting their influence upon entire communi- 
ties and sections, to so great an extent that a trav- 
eler could scarcely, at all times, beheve himself to be 
in the same country in passing from State to State. 
Looking over this list of nationalities, which 
might be made even longer than it is, we may put 
our fingers upon several famihes that are not likely 
to enter largely into the united American family to 
come hereafter. Neither the Asiatic nor the Afri- 
can, can exercise any permanent influence in the 
moulding of the national character. Their presence 
among us bring some good and some evil, — it is not 
needful to balance the account, — but they have 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 483 

neither the intellectual nor the moral elements to 
make an indelible mark. They are now, and per- 
haps always must be foreigners ; with us, but not 
always of us ; coloring, to a certain extent, our leg- 
islation, language and habits of thought; affecting 
more or less our industry and finance, hindering or 
helping our general development, but accomplishing 
nothing of an enduring nature, — nothing which 
three or five hundred years hence will be sufficiently 
visible to permit the tracing back to an African 
or Asiatic origin. The America of the 22d century 
of the Christian Era, will be purely American only 
in its name and physical geography. It will be 
Europe passed through the American crucible. 
The most healthy and vigorous European races 
will have been melted together into an American- 
ized race — a race whose European blood and brain 
will be stamped with innumerable pecuharities 
derived from American soil, climate, scenery and in- 
stitutions. 

The foundation for this unity of races will un- 
doubtedly be English, for while we have shaken 
off the political yoke of the mother country, the 
language, the literature and best political ideas 
of England must always hold us nearer to the 
English type than to any other. The descendants 
of the Puritans and Cavahers who first settled 
Massachusetts and Virginia cannot rid themselves 
of the ancestral chain which binds them to the 
grand little Island across the sea, and no revolution 
in politics, in society or religion, can entirely 
obhterate the impression made upon national man- 
ners, and thought by the strongly marked men, who 



484 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

left home and friends to plant the seeds of Enghsh 
civihzation and culture in the American wilderness. 
Accepting the English as the fundamental type of 
the future nationality, what other races will pro- 
bably compose the predominating j^art of the super- 
structure ? The statistics of immigration furnish 
an answ er to this interesting question. 

Ireland and Germany send us the most re-inforce- 
ments, and the Irish and German character has al- 
ready infused itself in the American to a much 
greater extent than is commonly supposed. There 
are more Irish in America to-day, than in Ireland, 
and there are portions of America, as German as 
Germany; and while it is true that the Irish born 
in Ireland, and the Germans born in Germany, are 
what is called "clannish," we have only to study 
their children to see that the clannishness is not per- 
manent. It wears off rapidly in the second genera- 
tion, and is scarcely perceptible in the third. In 
other words, the grandson of a German or Irish im- 
migrant is, to all intents and purposes, an Ameri- 
can, — not precisely the same sort of an American 
as the man of Anglo-Saxon lineage, but resembling 
him more closely than he does the Anglo-Saxon. 
Twenty generations cannot extinguish all the race 
instincts and ideas, but enough of them are removed 
in the second and third to foreshadow the inevita- 
ble result. It may then be safely predicted that 
when the amalgamation is consummated, and the 
unity of races an established fact, we shaU have a 
race of Americans, in which the eye of the careful 
observer may detect the sturdy virtues brought 
from England, the thrifty economy and plain com- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 



485 



mon sense brought froDi G-ermany, and the chival- 
rous courage, the poetic imagination, the matchless 
wit, and invincible good nature brought from Ire- 
land. All these blended into one, and that one 
tinted as it must be by contact with races, smaller 
in number and less distinct than the dominant 
three, will certainly produce a nationality unlike 
any the world has yet seen, and in very many re- 
spects superior to any now existing. If the Ameri- 
can Republic be true to itself, what a magnificent 
destiny awaits it ! 




486 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA., 



CHAPTEK XXXII. 

Across the Country to Arizona — Natural Features of the Country — The 
Great Kivers — Wonderful Canons — Ancient Ruins — Climate — Va- 
rious Indian Tribes — Mining Regions— The Future of Arizona. 

Taking passage on a steamer at San Francisco, 
we arrived, after a delightful voyage, at the httle 
town of San Diego, on the extreme southern coast 
of Cahfornia, which, whatever its attractiveness to 
others, was to us only a point of departure across 
the State by stage to Arizona City, a distance of 
eighty miles, as reported in the time table, but to 
us it was interminably long and wearisome, al- 
though I give the driver credit for making his seven 
miles an hour, as required by the mail service to do. 
We would have preferred to make the entire pass- 
age from San Francisco to the mouth of the Color- 
ado Eiver in one of the steamers of the line connect- 
ing with the steamboats that ply upon that majestic 
and rapid stream, but this was inexpedient for us; 
and, as all things have an end, so did our wearisome 
stage ride terminate at last, and we found ourselves 
in the great Territory of Arizona, the chief points 
of interest of which we proposed to visit, so far as 
it might be possible to do in the brief period to 
which our travel in this region was hmited. 

Arizona lies between latitude 31 and 37 north, and 
longitude 109 and 115 west. It is bounded on the 
north by Nevada and Utah, east by New Mexico, 
west by Cahfornia and Nevada, and south by So- 
nera, Mexico. This vast region is 700 miles long, 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 487 

with an average width of 140 miles, and contains an 
area of seventy-three milhon acres. Arizona was 
Mexican Territory, and peopled only by Indians 
until 1853, when it was acquired by the United 
States ; ten years later, a territorial form of govern- 
ment was organized. 

The word "Arizona" is derived from the Aztec, 
and signifies "Silver-bearing" — a most appropriate 
name, in view of the vast wealth of the silver mines 
of the Territory. The mountain ranges generally 
run northeast and southwest ; the Magollon Moun- 
tains and a chain extending into New Mexico run 
from east to west. The highest peak in Arizona is 
the San Francisco, which rises to the height of 
11,000 feet. 

In the middle and northeast parts of the Terri- 
tory, there are plateaus of vast extent, having an 
elevation varying from three thousand to seven 
thousand-five hundred feet above the sea. These 
regions are diversified by volcanic cones and hills. 
In the north, a plateau, or mesa, as it is called, ex- 
tends into Utah. South of the Gila Kiver, the 
plain is but little above sea level. The Territory of 
Arizona has never been fully explored, and but com- 
paratively a small part of it has been surveyed. It 
embraces three of the largest rivers on the conti- 
nent, west of the Mississippi — the Eio Grande, Gila 
and Colorado. 

The Colorado River is formed by the union of the 
Green and Grand Rivers, in the southern part of 
Utah ; it runs in a southerly direction for more than 
five hundred miles, along the w^estern border of Ari- 
zona, receiving in its course the Chiquito, Diamond 



488 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

• 

and Gila, and many other tributaries of less im- 
portance. In the north, the Colorado rushes through 
rocky and precipitous canons, the walls of which in 
many places, rise perpendicularly to the terrible 
height of six or seven thousand feet. 

The Colorado is navigable from Calhdlle to the 
Gulf of California, a distance of over six hundred 
miles. The San Carlos, Salado, San Pedro and 
Santa Cruz — all small rivers — are tributary to the 
Gila, which unites with the Colorado 180 miles from 
the sea. 

Col. Emery, who has explored a large portion of 
the Territory, says : "The wide belt of country that 
borders the Black Forest, and probably extends 
along the Rio Verde to the Salinas and Gila, bears 
every indication of being able to support a large 
agricultural and pastoral population. The valley of 
the Rio Verde is magnificently wooded with firs and 
oaks, affording excellent timber. Ancient ruins are 
said by trappers to be scattered over its whole length 
to the confluence with the Salinas. We therefore 
seem to have skirted the boundary of a country once 
populous, and worthy of becoming so again. Besides 
the advantages already enumerated, the mountains 
in this vicinity bear indications of mineral wealth." 

The country east of the Rio Grande is a great 
plain, broken only by the Sacramento and Guade- 
loupe Mountains. The sun never shone on a fairer 
grazing country than upon the three hundred miles 
west of the Rio Grande. The traveler has before 
him throughout the entire distance a luxuriant 
growth of grass the nutritious qualities of which are 
unsurpassed, and the stock-raiser has the satisfac- 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 489 

tion of seeing his cattle in January, as fat as those 
that are stall fed in the east. Ninety miles west of 
the Eio Grande is the Mimhres Eiver and Valley. 
Still following the emigrant and mail road for a dis- 
tance of fifty miles, brings us to the capital — the 
old Mexican town of Tucson and the valley of Santa 
Cruz. 

Like most of the streams, the Santa Cruz is in- 
termittent, — sinking and rising at irregular inter- 
vals. A portion of this valley is covered with a 
heavy growth of cottonwood. The mountains in 
the vicinity contain pine and oak, and the extensive 
tracts of grazing lands south to the Mexican line, 
are covered thickly with the mesquit, which makes 
excellent fuel. The whole region between the Eio 
Grande and the Santa Cruz is broken with conical 
shaped hills and mountains, called by the Mexicans 
pello7iciUos. At the foot of these hills are found 
springs which afforded water to the immense herds 
of cattle and horses which once covered the coun- 
try; and at many of these springs are found the 
ruins of buildings occupied by the herders. The 
hills are clothed to the top with the gramma and 
other nutritious grasses. 

Twenty miles east of the Sonoita Valley, and 
just north of the town of Santa Cruz, is one of the 
richest silver regions of Arizona. The Wachupe 
Mountain, it is believed, contains an inexhaustible 
supply of silver. 

The valley of the Colorado is fertile, and will pro- 
duce all the tropical fruits as well as the cereals. 
The Indians, favored by the annual overflow of the 
river, raise abundant crops of grains and vegeta- 



490 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

bles. The remains of extensive irrigating canals 
show that at some time, long since gone by, a large 
agricultural population lived here, but who these 
people were is a mystery, which perhaps may never 
be solved. The soil of the Colorado bottom is well 
adapted to the growth of rice, sugar and cotton. 
This is the only portion of the Territory where the 
heat is excessive. Along the river banks there is a 
fine growth of cottonw^ood, and the whole valley 
abounds with the mesquit. 

The valley of the Gila River, — the waters of 
which flow from East to West, dividing the Terri- 
tory nearly in the centre — is four hundred miles 
long, and for the greater part, is suitable for tillage. 

The valleys of the uplands and the alluvial bottom 
lands of the southern section are quite fertile, and 
wherever irrigation can be obtained the land yields 
largely. The products are those of the temperate 
zone. In the middle valleys, two crops a year are 
often raised, but until some system of irrigation 
shall be adopted, the productive area will neces- 
sarily be limited. There is much arable land in the 
eastern and central sections and on the hill sides of 
the northeast. Along the streams, walnut, cotton- 
wood, cherry, ash, willow and other forest trees are 
plentiful ; on the mountains are forests of oak, pine 
and cedar. Since 1876 the number of cattle and 
sheep has increased four fold, and stock-raising will 
ere long become an important business. 

The climate of Arizona is mild and salubrious. 
The atmosphere is remarkably dry, with very little 
rainfall. Snow sometimes falls upon the mountains 
and central portion of the Territory, but remains for 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 491 

only a few hours. At Fort Yuma, near Arizona City, 
the average temperature during the winter months 
is 58 degrees Fah., in spring 65, in summer 89, and 
in autumn 80. In June, July and August, the mer- 
cury sometimes reaches 112 degrees. Like all ele- 
vated table land, the entire region is free from mal- 
arial diseases. 

The first explorations of the country were made 
by the Spaniards in the first half of the sixteenth 
century, and the numerous ruins which have been 
discovered prove that the valley of the Gila was 
highly cultivated and extensively peopled. The 
ruins of aqueducts, canals and houses of large size, 
with walls of solid masonry, show that the inhabit- 
ants must have attained a degree of civilization, 
though not as high as was reached by the Aztecs 
or the native races of Central America. But they 
have left no records of their history, and our sole 
knowledge of them is derived from the ruins of their 
buildings and towns. 

"Many portions of Arizona are covered with 
juins, which prove conclusively that it was once 
densely populated by a people far in advance, in 
point of civilization, of most of the Indian tribes. 
There is no written record of them, and it is only a 
matter of conjecture who and whatthey were. Oc- 
oasionally a deserted house is found sufficiently 
well preserved to ascertain the character of the 
architecture. The walls of the Casa G-rande, situ- 
ated on the Gila, near Sanford, are still two stories 
above the ground. In size, the structure is about 
thirty by sixty feet ; the walls are thick, and made 
of mud, which was evidently confined and dried as 



492 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

it was built. It is divided into many small rooms, 
and the partitions are also made of mud. The 
floors were made by placing sticks close together 
and covering them with cement. Around and near 
the Casa Grande, are the ruins of many other build- 
ings ; but, by the lapse of time, the decay of veget- 
ation has formed earth and nearly covered them, 
and all that now marks tlie place where once a 
stately mansion stood, is the elevation of the 
ground. Near the Ancha Mountains are ruins not 
so extensive, but in far better preservation than the 
Casa Grande ; and near these ruins are old arastras, 
for the reduction of silver ore — which indicate that 
this old people were not unmindful of the root of 
all evil. On the Verde River are immense rooms 
dug in from the sides of high, perpendicular sand- 
stone banks, that can only be reached with ladders. 
Very little information is obtained by excavating 
these ruins. Pottery, of an excellent quality, and 
ornamented with paint, is found everywhere, and 
occasionally a stone axe is unearthed, but nothing to 
indicate that they were a warlike people; on the 
contrary, scarcely an implement of defense can be 
found, though there are reasons to believe, from the 
numerous lookouts, or places for observation to be 
seen on the tops of hills and mountains, and the 
construction of their houses, that they had ene- 
mies, and that they were constantly on the alert to 
avoid surprise; and, also, that by the hands of these 
enemies they perished. It is not improbable that 
the Apaches were the enemies who caused their de- 
struction. Indeed, the Apaches have a legend that 
suet is the case. During the year 1878, Commis- 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 493 

si oner S afford opened an old ruin at Pueblo Viejo, 
on the Upper Gila, and found the bones of several 
human beings within ; also the bones of a number 
of domestic animals. On the fire, smoUa, crockery- 
ware vessel, was found with the bones of a fowl in 
it, and it appeared as though the people who occu- 
pied the premises, had resisted an attack from an 
enemy, and had finally been murdered. Shortly 
after he visited a ruin in Chino Valley, twenty miles 
north of Prescott, and over three hundred miles 
from Pueblo Yiejo, and there found that a resident 
had opened a ruin on his farm. In it he found the 
bones of several human beings — five adults and 
several children, and the evidence was unmistakable 
that the inmates had died by violence, as the door 
and window had been walled up with stone, evi- 
dently to resist a hostile foe. The subject is an in- 
teresting one, and it is to be hoped that further 
excavations may throw more light upon it. 

The ruins of towns, farms and irrigating canals 
that are to be seen on every hand through this vast 
Territory, give abundant proof that this country 
was once densely inhabited, and that the people 
who hved here maintained themselves by cultivat- 
ing the soil. Probably that is about all we shall 
ever know of them. Many hieroglyphics are to be 
seen on rocks in different portions of the Territory, 
but by whom made, or what they mean, no one 
knows. 

"In excavating a well between Tucson and the 
Gila, at the depth of one hundred and fifty feet, 
pottery and other articles, the same as found in the 
vicinity of ruins, were taken out." 



494 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

"On making particular inquiries respecting the 
ruins," says John D. Hall, "I find that they are 
common in all parts of the Sonora River region, and 
even on the river Gila. The river Sonora, from its 
length, quantity of water, and abundance of cultiv- 
able land, is peculiarly adapted to maintain a large 
population. Many of the ruins are of great extent^ 
covering whole table lands, proving that in former 
times Sonora was much more thickly peopled than 
at present. Undoubtedly some regularity was ob- 
served in laying out these towns. 

In one I found what appeared to have been a fort ; 
by its position it was well calculated for defence. 
Unfortunately, no documents exist, from which 
dates could be taken, the archives, and all belong- 
ing to the mission, having been destroyed at the 
time the Jesuits were expelled . It is a known fact 
here, that the order of Jesuits have done more 
towards civilization among the Indians, than any 
other rehgious order in existence." 

The tradition is current here, and in all parts of 
the Opata Nation, that the great Montezuma was 
the chief of their tribe, and a great warrior. After 
subjecting the other tribes to his rule, he determined 
on building himself a city to live in, on the river 
Gila — in Casas Blancas. He commenced operations : 
not Uking the situation, or being somewhat dis- 
turbed in his work by the Apaches — the only tribe, 
which had not submitted to his rule, joined to the 
bad omens observed by the priests — he determined 
to travel in search of a good location, favored by his 
gods. At the time of commencing his new journey, 
an eagle was observed to be hovering over the camp ;. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 495- 

orders were given to observe the bird's flight, and 
its resting place ascertained; his commands were 
obeyed implicitly, and the eagle was found in the 
lake of Mexico, perched on an opal, with a rattle 
snake in its beak. . Here, Montezuma founded the 
city of Mexico, which would have remained in his 
possession up to the present date, if Hernan Cortez 
and his gallant adventurers had not disturbed his 
calculations in a most important manner. Such is 
the tradition, and it is considered heresy among the 
Opatas not to believe it. Eagle, snake and opal is- 
the escutcheon of Mexico. 

Humboldt mentions in his travels having seen th& 
ruins of Casa Blanca on the river Gila. Another 
tradition is current also of Montezuma having told 
the conquerors of Mexico, that it would be an easy 
matter for them to subject to their rule the whole 
of the Indian tribes, but the Apaches never." 

These ruins are found in various parts of the 
Territory and throughout New Mexico, and all 
seem to have been the works of the same people, 
and to have been constructed in or about the same 
period. 

Near the salt lakes, a hundred miles southeast of 
Santa Fe, are the ruins of an extensive town or 
city. The explorer there finds an aqueduct twelve 
miles in length, the walls of buildings, traces of 
streets, and other features of interest, landmarks of 
a past age. It may have been a Spanish silver min- 
ing town. Euins in Navajoe County include the 
remains of some very large buildings, in which ex- 
plorers have found traces of more than a hundred 
separate rooms on the ground floor of a single 
house. 



496 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMEEICA, 

Nearly three hundred years ago, Spanish mission- 
aries found, in New Mexico, half-civihzed Indians 
who raised cotton, manufactured cloth, and hved in 
towns with regular streets, squares and dwellings, 
hke those of the present Pueblos. 

"Dr. J. S. Newberry, of the United States army, 
found remarkable ruins of old Pueblos of the San 
Juan Eiver, then in New Mexico, now in the south- 
west corner of Colorado. One of these deserted hu- 
man bee-hives was inclosed by sand-stone walls, five 
hundred feet long, twelve inches thick, and thirty 
feet high. The marks on the few timbers, still pre- 
served, and implements found in the vicinity, indi- 
cate that logs and rocks were split and hewn with 
tools of hard stone or obsidian. The huge edifice, 
six stories high, was divided into small rooms, very 
evenly plastered with gypsum. 

The San Juan valley contains many of these ruins, 
which have been deserted from three hundred to 
five hundred years. Once it swarmed with the busy 
life of half a milhon of people, now it has no human 
being. Dr. Newberry inquired the reason of this 
from an old and intelhgent Pueblo chief, who re- 
phed that at the invasion by Cortez, Montezuma 
made such heavy drafts upon the able bodied men 
of the province as to leave old men, women and 
children, unable to defend themselves from the 
surrounding Utes, Apaches and Navajoes, and com- 
pelled the entire population to emigrate southward. 
This theory is supported by the fact that the most 
ancient Pueblos, which were built in mountain fast- 
nesses easily defensible against numbers and valor, 
are still inhabited, while those in the open country 
are deserted." 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 497 

The history of x\rizona is a constant record of 
border warfare. The Pimas and Maricopas Indians 
occupy a fertile tract on the Gila, and are brave 
and hospitable ; they live in villages and cultivate 
the soil with great success. The Apache Indians, 
on the contrary are a blood thirsty tribe, who wan- 
der from place to place without any fixed habitation, 
and are continually at war with other tribes, when 
not otherwise engaged in pillage and murder of 
white men. In the Territory there are 20,792 In- 
dians in tribal relations, and occupying reservations 
covering three miUion acres. The principal tribes 
are the Pimas, Papagoes, Mojaves, Yumas, Marico- 
pas and Apaches. The white population of the 
Territory does not exceed thirty thousand. 

There are few railroads in Arizona. The means 
of communication at present is by wagon roads, 
which lead to every important town. The South 
Pacific Eailroad connecting at Lathrop, Cahfornia, 
with the main line of the Central Pacific Eoad, 
extends from G-oshen, south to Yuma, 637 miles 
from Lathrop, where it crosses the Colorado Eiver 
and enters Arizona, thence it runs east through 
the valley of the Gila. Between Keene and Girard, 
260 miles from Lathrop is the " Loop "—the only 
instance in railroad construction of a road crossing 
itseH. 

Arizona has a good system of pubhc schools con- 
sidering the vast area and scattered population. 
There are four newspapers published in the Terri- 
tory. The large majority of the people are Cath- 
ohcs, but the Methodists and other denominations 
have a few churches in the principal towns. 

38 



498 LIFE IN THE "WILDS OF AMEBIC A, 

Tucson the capital, is in the Santa Cruz Valley,. 
300 miles east of Arizona City, on the overland from 
San Diego, Cahfornia, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
Although a very old city its population does not 
exceed 3,500. It has been a town of some impor- 
tance, *for about a century. The Mexican govern- 
ment had a military post here, and it is now the 
principal place for the exchange of commodities 
between Arizona and Sonora. The people of that 
country, bring grain, fruits, tobacco and other pro- 
ducts, and exchange them for goods and money. 
The Territoral Hbrary is in Tucson. The majority 
of the inhabitants are Mexican, and the Spanish 
language is spoken by nearly all. 

Prescott, formerly the capital, is 155 miles east of 
the Colorado. It is the county seat of the county, 
and headquarters for the military department of 
Arizona. It contains a population of two thousand, 

Arizona City, situated at the confluence of the 
Gila and Colorado, is the county seat of Yuma 
County, and has a population of 1,600. It is the 
principal depot of supplies for southern Arizona. 

Ehrenburg, 140 miles above Arizona City, on the 
Colorado, is a new and thriving town, and the chief 
shijjping point for the central section of the Ter- 
ritory. 

Florence, Sanford, Mineral Park, Hardyville and 
Wickenburg, are also desiring of mention. The 
Territory is very rich in all the precious and most 
of the useful metals, but the want of facihties for 
transportation has prevented the development of 
the mining interests. In Central Arizona gold is 
found, and both, there and in the south, the moun- 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 499 

tains contain rich lodes of gold, silver, copper and 
lead. Silver is found in the form of galena and sul- 
phnrets, and copper chiefly in gray sulphurets, car- 
bonates and oxide of iron, platinum and quicksilver 
may be found in abundance, but for lack of capital 
comparatively little mining has been done. 

Immense deposits of salt of purest quahty, gyp- 
sum, lime and some small beds of coal are worked. 

The prospects for mining have never before been 
so encouraging as at the present time, and new dis- 
coveries of valuable silver lodes are constantly being 
made. With the construction of railroads and sup- 
pression of Indian troubles, capital will flow intO' 
Arizona, and soon this vast country, now almost 
unknown, will develop into one of the richest min- 
ing districts in the world. Semi-official statistics: 
for 1878, show that the value of gold and silver 
buUion in that year from the mines of Arizona was 
$2,287,983. 

A correspondent, writing from this great Terri- 
tory, says : "Arizona is to-day, in embryo the great 
mining empire of the Pacific. I cannot detail in a 
letter the mines that produce their millions, but 
they are many. The railroads are coming from the 
west and east. Their rate of progress is three miles 
a day; one on the Santa Fe, Atchison and Topeka 
line, and two on the S. P. R. R. The gap will soon 
be closed. St. Louis wiU be the great commercial 
city, with which we shaU have direct deahngs. 
Arizona will score $6,000,000 in buUion, as its pro- 
duct for 1880. 

New Mexico is one of the largest and most popu- 
lous of the Territories. It is situated between the 



500 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

31st and 37th parallels of north latitude, and the 
103d and 109th west longitude ; it has a length of 
from three hundred and fifty to three hundred and 
ninety miles, and a breadth of three hundred and 
thirty-five miles, and contains 121,000 square miles. 
The general surface consists of high level plateaus, 
traversed by ranges of mountains, between which 
are many wide and fertile valleys ; there are many 
isolated mountain peaks of great height in several 
parts of the Territory. The chief river is the Eio 
Grande del Norte, w^hich flows through the centre. 
The Pecos flows south through the eastern divi- 
vision, and unites with the Eio Grande in Texas. 
The northeast is drained by the Canadian, and the 
northwest by the San Juan Kiver, while the Gila 
and Chiquito Colorado have their origin in the 
southwest. The valley of the Rio Grande has an 
elevation of betw^een 5,000 and 6,000 feet, near the 
northern boundary, ajad of about 3,000 feet at El 
Paso. On each side of the valley of the Rio Grande 
and Pecos, the moimtains have a general altitude of 
6,000 to 8,000 feet, while some rise far above the 
snow line, which in this latitude, is situated at an 
elevation of about ten thousand feet. Most of the 
mountains and streams have a general direction 
north and south. The Rocky Mountains are here di- 
vided into two ranges, of which the eastern contains 
the highest peaks, and extends to within a few miles 
of Santa Fe. South of this range, a lofty plateau 
extends between the Rio Grande and Pecos, broken, 
however, by numerous smaller ranges. In the west, 
the great range of the Sierra Madre extends into 
Mexico. The country west of this is less known 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 501 

than the eastern region, but is beheved to be fertile, 
and to contain great mineral wealth, as yet entirely 
undeveloped. It consists of numerous and extensive 
table lands or mesas, with detached ranges of moun- 
tains, enclosing many beautiful valleys. In the 
extreme southeast is the Llano Estacado, or Staked 
Plain, which covers many thousand square miles, 
and extends a considerable distance into Texas. 
This consists of an elevated tract, destitute of wood, 
and almost entirely unproductive. With this ex- 
ception, the land, where susceptible of irrigation, 
is generally valuable for agriculture and grazing. 
There are no fresh-water lakes of any importance, 
but salt lakes, or salirias, are abundant, particularly 
between the Rio Grande and the Pecos, south of 
Santa Fe, and from these, large supplies of salt are 
obtained for the use of the Territory, and adjacent 
provinces of Mexico. 

The great differences in latitude and elevation 
give rise to wide variations in the climate of the 
Territory. The atmosphere is clear and dry, and 
pulmonary and miasmatic complaints are scarcely 
known, the proportion of deaths from consumption 
being smaller than in any State or Territory, with 
the exception of Arizona. In the mountains the 
winters are sometimes severe ; on the plateaus and 
in the river valleys, especially of the South, they 
are remarkably mild, the temperature seldom falling 
below the freezing point. In this locality the rainy 
season is in July and August. The annual rainfall 
varies from ten to thirty inches, according to loca- 
tion. The mean annual temperature at Santa Fe, 
at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, is 50 degrees 



502 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Fah. ; that of spring, 49 degrees, summer, 70 de- 
grees, autumn, 50 degrees, winter, 31 degrees Fah. 
The highest temperature recorded was 88 degrees, 
the lowest, 50 degrees. The summers are long and 
warm, but extreme heat is rarely experienced, 
owing to the elevated position of the country and 
frequent breezes. 

There is no room for doubt as to the suitability 
of New Mexico for stock-raising on an extensive 
scale, the pasturage being abundant, while mesquite 
or gramma grass preserves its nutritive properties 
through the winter. Frosts being almost entirely 
unknown, cattle require no shelter, and the chmate 
is even more favorable for sheep husbandry, which 
forms one of the chief industries. 

The valley of the Rio Pecos and Rio Grande, and 
of a number of the smaller streams are very produc- 
tive. The rainfall being small, artificial irrigation 
is necessary, and many canals have been construc- 
ted. Corn, w^heat, barley and oats, are the principal 
crops, and fruits of all kinds flourish, the grape 
being especially luxuriant. The mountain sides 
bear heavy forests of pine, cedar, spruce, and other 
coniferous trees, while oak, walnut, sycamore and 
Cottonwood are plentiful in the South. 

Aside from the products of her mines, the exports 
of New Mexico are small, and the manufactures 
are principally confined to such articles of prime 
necessity, as flour, sawed lumber and the hke. 
Some of the water power afforded by the rapid run- 
ning rivers has been utilized for manufacturing 
purposes, but until the Territory is opened up by 
raih'oads, the development of the manufacturing 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 503 

:and commercial interests of New Mexico must nec- 
essarily be slow. 

The population is estimated at about 120,000, 
there being 92,000 at the Federal census of 1870. 
This is exclusive of the tribal Indians, of whom 
there were in 1874, over 25,000, principally Navajos, 
Utes and Apaches. The Pueblos, numbering 9,000, 
occupy nineteen villages, or "pueblos" in the north- 
west. They have been decided to be citizens of 
the United States, but under the Territorial laws 
are not allowed to vote. They live in towns built 
of stone or adobe, and are widely scattered over the 
Territory. They are an honest, plodding people, 
and are nearly always independent of government in 
respect to material aid. They raise all the pro- 
ducts of the country, including fruit, and also give 
much attention to flocks and herds. The progress 
made in educating these Indians during the last 
year, has been very satisfactory. The Spanish lan- 
guage is spoken by a majority of the people, most 
of whom are of Mexican descent. The government 
is similar to that of other Territories. A free pub- 
lic school system was inaugurated in 1871, and has 
since been extended throughout the Territory. 
There are 160 Catholic churches and a few Protest- 
ant organizations, and twelve newspapers are pub- 
lished. , Taxation is hght, and there is no Territorial 
•debt. 

Santa Fe, the capital and most important city, is 
situated on the banks of Santa Fe Creek, an afilu- 
•ent of the Eio Grande, and is about 275 miles south 
by west of Denver, Colorado. It is one of the oldest 
towns on the American continent, and when first 



504 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

visited by the Spaniards, in 1542, was a populous 
Indian pueblo. The exact date of the first Spanish 
settlement has not been preserved, but Santa Fe 
became the capital of New Mexico in 1640. It was 
captured and partially destroyed by the Indians in 
1680, and retaken by the Spaniards fourteen years 
later. In 1837, another attack was made by the In- 
dians, who were repulsed with great loss, and in 
1846, the United States troops occupied it. During" 
the Civil War, the Confederate forces took the city, 
but were forced to evacuate it after an occupancy 
of thirty days. At present, it consists of a number 
of irregularly built streets of adobe houses, mostly 
of one story only. The principal business houses 
are grouped round the public square, where also is 
the old "Palace," containing the Legislative Hall, 
Court rooms, and the Governor's mansion. The 
population is about 5,000, of whom four-fifths are of 
Spanish and Mexican origin, and speak the Spanish 
language. There is an old cathedral of peculiar 
architecture, and a new one has been constructed 
in connection with this. A few Protestant denom- 
inations maintain missions here. There is a tele- 
graphic communication with Denver, and stage 
lines run daily to Trinidad and Las Animas, and 
to the more important towns of Arizona. Santa Fe 
is the centre of sup])lies for a very large district, and 
a large trade is carried on. 

The most pressing need of New Mexico at this 
time is railroads. With much fertile soil and im- 
mense mineral wealth, the growth of the Territory 
has been retarded by the lack of means of access 
and in^^^'-communication. It is believed that before 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 505 

long, this want w^ill be supplied, and the country 
opened up by several lines of railroad. 

The chief mineral w^ealth of this rich Territory is 
contained in its gold and silver mines, some of which 
have been worked since remote times. The earliest 
Spanish discoverers found such convincing proofs 
of the richness of the gold and silver deposits, that 
they gave to the country its present name, from the 
resemblance to the mineral regions of old Mexico. 
Throughout the periods of the Spanish and Mexican 
occupancy, the precious metals were worked, and 
even with the rude appliances and desultory methods 
of those peoples, w^onderful results were obtained. 

The chief gold fields now operated are those of 
Colfax, Grant, Santa Fe and BernaUilo Counties, 
and of the Carrizo, Sierra Blanca, Patos, Jicarilla 
and Magdalena Mountains, but these are only a few 
of the many regions in which gold is knowm to exist. 
So far, little more than the placers have been 
touched, while the great resources of the quartz 
lodes still await the advent of machinery, capital, 
and, above all, well-directed labor. The census of 
1870 returned seventeen gold mines, of which five 
were quartz lodes, with an invested capital of over 
$2,380,000. 

Having visited every State and Territory west of 
the Mississippi, the object of our expedition was 
accomplished ; and from Santa Fe we returned to 
St. Louis'. Although we had travelled over many 
thousands of miles, by every means of conveyance, 
and had experienced the fatigue, exposure and pri- 
vations incident to so long a journey, not one of 
the company had suffered from iUness for a day. 



50G LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

Surely there is no prophylactic against physical ills 
so effective as pure air and plain regimen. At 8t. 
Louis, our party separated, with mutual regrets, — 
our English friends returning to Europe, carrying 
with them notes and sketches which may in time 
reach many American readers, and with the con- 
viction in which we all concur that Uncle Sam's 
farm is somewhat extensive — and rather more so 
than the general public suppose. 

"I hear the tread of pioneers, 

Of nations yet to be, 
The first low wasli of waves, where soon 

Shall roll a human sea. 
The elements of empire here 

Are plastic yet and warm, 
And the chaos of a mighty world 

Is rounding into form; 
Each rude and jostling fragment soon 

Its fitting place shall find 
The raw material of a State, 

Its muscles and its mind." 




AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 507 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 

Alaska — Its Extent— Climate— Sitka— The Yukon River — a " Yosemite 
Valley " in Alaska — A Wonderful Region^Grand and Beautiful 
Scenery — The Grand Canon— A Magnificent View — The Largest 
Glacier on the Globe^ — Description of the Various Parts of the Ter- 
ritory — Intense Heat in Summer — Luxuriant Vegetation^ — Forests 
— Gorgeous Flowers— Aborigines of North America — Manners, Cus- 
toms, and Traditions of the Natives of Alaska. 

Thirteen years ago the United States purchased 
of Russia, the vast region in the northwest, desig- 
nated upon our old maps as "Eussian Possessions," 
and upon those of later construction, as Alaska, 
paying therefor the sum of seven million two hun- 
dred thousand dollars. It was thought by many — 
perhaps the majority of the people of the Union — 
that Secretary Seward had paid enormously dear for 
the Territory of "frozen land and glaciers, inter- 
mingled with numberless volcanoes and hot springs," 
for the cold, bleak and barren region would be of 
little value to the country. But it appears, as the 
result of the most careful exploration and investi- 
gation, that the popular supposition is erroneous. 
The sole purpose for which the Eussians ever ex- 
plored the Territory, was to obtain furs, and, that 
in this, they were successful, will appear from the 
fact that the fur trade alone, of Alaska, is now 
worth the sum of one million dollars annually. 
During the last nine years, the United States gov- 
ernment has received, for the rental of the Seal 
Islands — St. George and St. Paul — the sum of two 
and a half milhon dollars. These islands furnish 



508 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the world with the greater portion of its supply of 
furs. There is no reason why Alaska, comprising 
more than half a million square miles, may not be- 
come densely populated with a hardy and intelH- 
gent people. 

The Territory of Alaska is bounded on the north 
by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the Hudson 
Bay Territory, and on the south and west by the 
Pacific Ocean, Behring Sea and Strait. Its general 
climate is not unlike that of England, and much 
warmer than might be supposed, in view, only, of 
its high latitude, owing, perhaps, to the warm 
ocean stream — like the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic 
— the influence of which is felt along the entire 
northwest coast of America. It appears from ther- 
mometrical observations, taken at Sitka for the last 
forty-five years, that its winter climate is no more 
severe than that of Ohio or Kentucky. Only four 
times within the forty-five years did the mercury 
fall below zero, and the severest cold was only four 
below. In Minnesota, it is not unusual in winter, 
for the mercury to sink ten or fifteen below zero. 

At Sitka, such vegetables as require, in our lati- 
tude, only a part of the summer to reach maturity, 
flourish. The smaller fruits and berries mature and 
ripen. The region about Sitka, and especially south 
of that town, abounds in dense forests of large trees. 

Sitka was formerly the capital of the Russian 
colonies in America; here, the Governor had his 
residence. It is by no means a large town, but on 
the contrary, is very small, containing not over two 
hundred buildings ; the Governor's house, the Greek 
church and the large store houses being especially 



^ 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 509 

noticeable. The houses are chiefly built of lo^s, 
and painted a dull yellow ; the metal roofs are red ; 
hence the town presents a quaint but picturesque 
appearance, when viewed from the harbor, being 
wholly unlike any other on the continent. The 
moisture of the chmate renders Sitka a disagreeable 
locality for a residence. The numerous little islands, 
with which the bay is studded, are clothed with 
forests, which extend to the water's edge. 

The Presbyterian Church of this country, and 
the Canadian Methodists, have estabhshed Missions 
at Sitka and Fort Wrangell. 

The greater part of Alaska is further south than 
either Norway or Sweden, and Sitka is in the lati- 
tude of Aberdeen, Scotland. The Aleutian Islands 
— a part of Alaska — extend southward into the Pa- 
cific more than a thousand miles, the southern 
islands of the archipelago being about the latitude 
of London. 

The Pacific w^atershed of Alaska, is much smaller 
than that of Behring Sea. The mountains approach 
closely to the sea shore, and the water of the rivers 
is collected far inland, and forces its way to the sea 
through a narrow pass or perpendicular canon. Upon 
these lofty summits much of the rain-fall is con- 
gealed, and as a glacier torrent, reaches the sea by 
slow degrees. 

The head waters of the Yukon River were known 
to the traders and trappers of the Hudson Bay ter- 
ritory early in this century. In 1837, a Russian 
explored the delta of the Yukon, and ascended the 
river as far as the mouth of the Anvic River. Ten 
years later, Mr. Murray descended the Porcupine 



510 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

and founded the trading post of Fort Yukon. The 
river cuts through the great bend of the Rocky- 
Mountains, and flows through a canon of vast pro- 
portions and subhmity. It is narrow, deep and 
very swift, but gradually widens, and in its broadest 
extent is studded with little islands. The scenery 
along its course is wild and picturesque. Its banks 
are hilly and clothed with dense forests, in which 
moose, deer and other large game may be found in 
great numbers. 

The water of the Yukon above the mouth of the 
White River is clear and dark; the color of the 
latter stream is much hghter, and for a very long 
distance these currents flow side by side without 
mixing, but finaUy unite, and the Yukon as it ap- 
proaches the sea becomes very dark. The river is 
navigable. 

The second largest river of Alaska is the Stikine, 
which has become better known than any other, 
from the gold diggings on its banks ; these are aU. 
situated in British Territory. 

It is about 350 or 400 miles long, and navigable 
for small steamers to Glenora, 150 miles, flowing 
first in a general westerly direction, through grassy, 
undulating plains, darkened here and there with 
patches of evergreens, then cui'ving southward, and 
receiving numerous tributaries from the north, it 
enters the Coast Range and sweeps across it to the 
sea, through a Yosemite VaUey, more than a thous- 
and miles long, and from one to three miles wide at \ 
the bottom, and from five thousand to eight thous- 
and feet deep, marvelously beautiful and inspiring 
from end to end. To the appreciative tourist, sail- 



512 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ing up the river tlii'ougli the midst of it all, the canon 
for a distance of over a hundred miles, is a gallery 
of sublime pictures, an unbroken series of majestic 
mountains, glaciers, falls, cascades, forests, groves, 
flowery garden spots, grassy meadows in endless 
variety of form and composition — furniture enough 
for a dozen Yosemites — while back of the walls, 
and thousands of feeb above them, innumerable 
peaks and spires and domes of ice and snow, tower 
grandly to the sky. 

About fifteen miles above the mouth of the river, 
you come to the first of the great glaciers, pouring 
down through the forests in a shattered ice cascade, 
nearly to the level of the river. Here the canon is 
about two miles wide, planted with cottonwoods 
along the banks of the river, and spruce and fir and 
patches of wild rose and raspberry extend back to 
the grand Yosemite walls. Twelve miles above 
this point, a magnificent view is opened along the 
Skoot River Canon — a group of glacier-laden Alps 
from 10,000 to 1-2,00 J feet high, the source of the 
largest tributary of the Stikine. 

Thirty-five miles above the mouth of the river, 
the most striking object of all comes in sight. This 
is the lower expanded portion of the great glacier, 
measuring about six miles around, the snout pushed 
boldly forward into the middle of the valley among 
the trees, while its sources are mostly hidden. It 
takes its rise in the heart of the range, some thirty 
or forty miles away. Compared with this, the Swiss 
mer de glace is quite insignificant. It is caUed the 
*'Ice Mountain," and seems to have been regarded 
a,s a motionless mass, created on the spot, hke the 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 513 

rocks and trees about, without a question as to 
how or when. The front of the snout is about three 
hundred feet high, but rises rapidly back for a few 
miles to a height of about a thousand feet. Seen 
through gaps in the trees growing on one of its 
terminal moraines, as one sails slowly against the 
current, the marvelous beauty of the chasms and 
clustered pinnacles presents a scene of wondrous 
beauty as the sunshine glitters upon it. 

The high mountains of Alaska are all south of la- 
titude sixty-five. The St. Ehas, or Coast Eange, 
contains the highest peaks and most of the vol- 
canoes of the Territory. This great mountain chain 
extends along the northwest coast, from California 
to the peninsular of Alaska. In longitude 142 west, 
it merges with the ranges, which join it from the 
north and east, forming the Alaskan Range. 

Alaska may be considered agriculturally as three 
districts, each differing from the others in its climate, 
vegetation and physical characteristics. The first 
and most northern of these divisions, which may be 
designated as the Yukon country, is bounded on the 
north and west by the Arctic Ocean and Behring 
Sea, on the east by the British boundary fine, and 
on the south by the Alaskan Mountains. 

The second, or middle division, which may be 
termed the Aleutian district, includes that part of 
the peninsular of Alaska, and all the islands west of 
the 155th degree of longitude. 

The third, or. southernmost, which may be called 
the Sitkan district, includes all our possessions on 
the main land, and islands, south and east of the 
peninsular of Alaska. 



516 LITE IN THE WILDS OF AMEKICA, 

the commander of the post, that several spirit ther- 
mometers graduated up to 120 degrees, had burst 
under the scorching sun of the Arctic midsummer ; 
which can only be thoroughly appreciated by one 
who has endured it. In midsummer, on the upper 
Yukon, the only rehef from the intense heat under 
which the vegetation attains an almost tropical 
luxuriance, is the brief space during which the sun 
hovers over the northern horizon, and the voyageur 
in his canoe blesses the transient coolness of the 
midnight air," 

The valley of the Lower Yukon is somewhat 
foggy in the latter part of the summer ; but as we 
ascend the river, the climate improves, and the 
short summer at Fort Y^ukon is dry, hot and pleas- 
ant, varied only by an occasional shower of rain. 
The Yukon country is abundantly supplied with 
timber; even the coasts of the Arctic Ocean are 
strewn with trees brought down by the Yukon. 
The white spruce is the largest and the most valu- 
able tree growing in this region. The beautiful coni- 
fer is found all over the country, a short distance in- 
land, but the largest and most thrifty of these trees 
are found in the vicinity of running water. It often 
grows to the height of from fifty to a hundred feet, 
with a diameter of over three feet ; but the usual 
size is not much over half these dimensions. The 
wood is white, close and straight grained, easily 
worked, hght, yet very tough — even more so than 
the Oregon pine. It is not large enough for masts 
of vessels, but is superior to any other tree for 
spars. Near Fort Yukon, the trees are smaller but 
large enough for most purposes. 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 517 

The birch is next in importance. It growls to the 
height of about forty feet, with a diameter of a 
foot and a-half. Several species of poplar abound. 
One variety attains the height of from forty to sixty 
feet, having a diameter of three feet. Willows and 
alders are the most abundant of Alaskan trees. Of 
the former, all sizes may be found, from the slender 
variety on the Lower Yukon, which grows seventy 
or eighty feet high, yet only six inches in diameter, 
and with a mere wisp of straggling branches at the 
extreme tip, to the dwarf willows of the Arctic 
coast, crawling under the moss with a stem not 
larger than your pencil, and sending up shoots only 
a few inches in height. 

In Spring time, the treeless coasts, as well as the 
low lands, fairly glitter with a profusion of flowers 
amid luxuriant growth of verdure. 

The greater number of clear and pleasant days 
occur in January, February and June, and usually 
follow a north wind. 

"It may not be irrelevant to make a comparison 
between this portion of Alaska and a very similar 
country, which has, however, been for centuries un- 
der cultivation. I refer to the Highlands of Scotland 
and the adjacent islands, whose Scotch mists have 
become proverbial. Dr. Graham of Aberfoyle, re- 
ferring to the western district of Scotland, says that 
Ayreshire is very moist and damp, with a mild and 
temperate climate. Eenfrewshire is visited with 
frequent and heavy rains. Dunbartonshire has the 
same character. Argyllshire is considered the most 
rainy county of Scotland. 

The vapors of the Ocean are attracted by its lofty 



518 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

mountains, and the clouds discharge themselves in 
torrents on the valleys. The winters are for the 
most part, mild and temperate, but the summers are 
frequently rainy and cold. 

This description would answer very well for the 
most rainy portions of Alaska. 

Indeed, even in Iceland, where the temperature 
in winter is sometimes thirty-five below zero, we 
learn from Sir Gleorge MacKenzie, that four-fifths 
of the entire population of seventy thousand, derive 
their maintenance from agriculture. 

The aborigines of North America are naturally 
divided into two great groups, one comprising the 
natives known under the name of Indians, the other, 
comprising the tribes of Innuits, Aleutians and 
Asiatic Eskimos, adopting the nomenclature of DaU 
are Orarians — dwellers upon the sea-coasts. Gren. 
Br isbin, in supporting the theory that the Indians 
are of Asiatic origin, says : — 

"Perhaps, the strongest proof that our Indians 
are from Asia, is in the fact that the nomadic tribes 
of Alaska, are related to the Kamschatcans, and even 
now pass and repass Behring Straits. A tribe has 
lately been found in Alaska, speaking the Kam- 
schatka; and still further, as if to remove aU 
obstacles to the belief that the North American In- 
dian is from Asia, I am assured, many tribes on both 
sides of the straits are identical in manners, habits 
and customs. 

" It can be satisfactorily proved, our Indians are 
Asiatics, by their similarity of features and com- 
plexions; similarity of languages; of religion; of 
dress and ornaments ; of marriages ; of methods of 



> g; - 




bRt^g- 




5 p » i^ 


►3 


r- b' '^ ^ 


h 




;o 2 ^ "^ 5. p t^ .„ ,►-; 






■.'^?'. 



55 ' o I) S' ^ ffi M 

o s- c >:; ? o . 

=^ 5 " c 

O CD H- 

B ";? -- S M 

s; 2 a £l 

— =2,05 o 2. 



Ei O r»-p ffi 



'-^ ^ 



2(JQ 






=^ ^ 5! 



a 



:^ 



'Sr'C' 



<; CD 

— CD 


£3- 


CO 








CD 


g; 


g 




5. 


J3 


^ 




U 



o _ 
o p B ^ 

Bos 

;.3^ 



O CD 2 



B CD B 



p r: 



CO P 3" — ' -- 
„ o S- o <, 

CD S. S o r 



*< B (S CB 




520 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

making war; of dances; of sacrifices; of funeral 
rites; of festivals and beliefs concerning dreams; of 
games ; of ])ractice in naming children ; of dwellings ; 
and by similarity in form of government." 

The winter-houses of the Alaska natives are built 
on the most exposed localities, that the wind may 
drive away the snow. Whale ribs are erected in a- 
circle, while turf is piled np around them for two or 
three feet, and the whole is covered with walrus 
hide. The latter is oiled, to render it translucent, 
and therefore no windows are required for the ad- 
mission of light. These primitive houses are divided 
into rooms by skins, as the cotton houses of Cah- 
fornia were divided in the daj^s of '49. Their boats 
are so constructed that the cargo is kept quite dry,, 
and seal skins are inflated and attached to the 
gunwale as floats, so that it is almost impossible for 
the boat to be swamped; with these boats they 
make long voyages to distant islands. They are 
generally hospitable, good-humored, but not always 
trust-worthy. 

The natives generally are of Hght complexion, 
like all Orarians. They are of medium height, but ap- 
pear shorter than they are, from their peculiar dress, 
which if not graceful, admits of the greatest freedom 
of the wearer. The Aleuts are of light complexion, 
with coarse black hair and thin features, perhaps 
from the admixture of Russian blood, are more in- 
telhgent and agreeable than of other tribes. In 
stature tliey are perhaps above the average height 
of civilized races. Tlieir form is somewhat stoop- 
ing and their limbs ill-shajDed. The women are 
shorter, but of greater symmetry and many of them 
are pleasing in ayi})earance. 



AND WONDEBS OF THE WEST. 



521 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 

The Great Glaciers or Alaska— The Remains of Extinct Species— The 
Glaciers sent to Market— The Fur Trade— The Animals Hunted by 
the Natives— The Modes of Capture— Driving a Flock of Seals, 
Etc., Etc. 

i During the glacial peri- 
1 od, there existed a differ- 
1 ent class of animals from 
I those which now inhabit 
i this region. The elephant 
I roamed over the regions of 
I North America and Asia. 
-- Later, the reindeer and 
^;^, musk-ox followed the Arc- 
tic vegetation, as it ex- 
tended southward. Then 
the north-eastern portion 
of the country, now popu- 
lous portions of the United 
States, was covered, as 
Greenland is at present, 
with a continuous sheet 
01 ice. hcjeiice lias not satisfactorily defined the 
extent of this glacial covering. 

In the valley of the Yukon, the remains of the 
elephant are everywhere found on the surface, ex- 
cept when buried by the action of the rivers ; these 
remains are completely fossihzed, and destitute of 
animal matter, except in the very interior of the 
tusks, while the bones of the musk-ox, found in sim- 




^22 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ilar localities, still retain an animal odor, and some- 
times even slight remnants of the sinews. 

During the period of most intense cold, large 
glaciers were formed in the gorges and ravines of 
the Coast Ranges. As the climate became warmer, 
they diminished in size, and most of the glaciers in 
the extreme southern region of the country disap- 
peared entirely. From Bute Inlet to Unimak Pass, 
almost every deep gorge of considerable size, be- 
tween the high mountains, for w^hich this coast is 
so remarkable, has at his head a glacier or the re- 
mains of one. Some of these are of wonderful size 
and grandeur. 

The ice, broken from their overhanging chffs, has 
given rise to the names "Icy Strait" and "Icy 
Bay," etc., and lesser fragments, concealed by the 
adherent mud and rocks, were in numerous instances 
mistaken by the earher navigators for permanent 
rocks. 

It is evident that the greater nu-mber of glaciers 
are gradually decreasing in size, and that the climate 
is becoming drier and warmer. The glaciers of 
Bute Inlet and the Stikine have receded to a very 
considerable extent, leaving their tracks unmistak- 
able. The erosive action of the glaciers is com- 
paratively small. 

From some of these wonderful formations, issue 
streams of water, nearly pure, and they do not give 
rise to any very extensive shoals off the coast. 

It is almost a certainty that the whole of the pen- 
insular portion of Alaska, west of the 150tli degree of 
loDgitude is gradually undergoing elevation. This 
rise is occasionally accelerated by volcanic action 
in regions of hmited extent. 



AND WONDEES OF THE WEST. 52d 

Eemarkable hot and mineral springs are very 
numerous in Alaska. Gold, silver and copper occur 
in some parts of the Territory, but probably not m 
great quantities; amethysts are not uncommon m 
veins of quartz. Fossil ivory has been found, but 
it has little if any commercial value. The reports 
which have been pubhshed concerning it are gen- 
erally the wildest exaggerations. The Eussian 
American Company has long maintamed a very 
profitable trade in ice. At times vessels laden with 
ice from several of the glaciers, have found a pro- 
fitable market southward. The value of ice sent to 
California in 1868, was $28,000. 

The fur trade of Alaska has for more than a cen- 
tury been widely known. The furs of that region 
first led to its exploration and settlement, and the 
history of the trade is the history of the country. 
Dall gives us some interesting facts concernmg 
the fur bearing animals and the modes of hunting 

The sea otter is a very large animal; its fur is 
soft and black, while long hairs tipped with white, 
add to its beauty. When the skin is properly re- 
moved, the pelt is of an oval form. 

The fur-seal fishery, formerly less important than 
that of the sea otter, has of late years far exceeded 
it in value. The fur-seals and sea-hons are closely 
aUied, forming the family Otariidoi. They are well 
distinguished from the hair-seals (PJiocidoe) by their 
•external ears and long flippers destitute of hair, 
and with only three nails. The hair-seals have no 
external ears, and their flippers are broad, short 
.and covered with hair, having five nails on the hmd 



524 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

ones. The Alaskan fur-seal formerly extended from 
the ice line of Behring Sea, to the coast of Lower 
California. 

A number of Aleuts go along the water's edge, 
and, getting between the animals and the water,, 
shout and wave their sticks. The seals are very 
timid, and always follow each other like sheep; yet, 
if brought to bay, they will fight bravely. A man, 
who should venture into the midst of a herd, would 
doubtless be torn in pieces, for their teeth, though 
small, are exceedingly sharp. 

A body of four or five hundred having been sep- 
arated, as above, from the main assembly, they can 
be driven very slowly, by two men, into the interior 
of the island, exactly as a shepherd would drive his 
sheep. Their docility depends on circumstances. 
If the sun is out, and the grass dry, they cannot be 
driven at all. If the day is wet, and the grass 
sufficiently moist, they may be driven several miles. 
Every two or three minutes, they must be allowed 
to rest. Those, who become tired, are killed and 
skinned on the spot, as it is of no use to attempt to 
drive them then. They would at once attack the 
driver, and perhaps seriously injure him. When 
the seals have been brought to a suitable place, 
they are left with some one to watch them, until it 
is desired to kill them. 

The principal fur-bearing animals, which are not 
marine in their habits, are the fox, marten, mink, 
beaver, otter, lynx, black bear, and wolverine. Be- 
sides these, the skins of the whistler, marmot, rein- 
deer, mountain sheep and goat, wolf, musk-rat, and 
ermine, have a certain value, though hardly to be- 
classed as furs. 



AND WONDEKS OF THE WEST. 525 

The foxes are of several varieties. The stone 
foxes are blue, gray and white ; the red fox is found 
of various colors, known as silver, black, cross, and 
red foxes. The white stone foxes are the most valu- 
able of the varieties of that species at present. The 
most common variety is the blue fox. It is of a 
slate color with a purplish tinge, and very abundant 
on the Prisbyloff and Aleutian Islands. The gray 
stone foxes are the white ones in their summer 
dress, and the skins are nearly worthless. Black 
and silver foxes are abundant in many parts of the 
Territory. 

Otter and lynxes are very common on the Yukon. 
The wolverine is rare, and its skin as well as those 
of the wolf, bring high prices from the natives, who 
use them for trimming their dresses. A first-rate 
wolverine skin will bring twenty marten or forty 
mink skins. 

The skin of the black bear is valuable in Eussia, 
although not much esteemed with us. 

The sea-lion and the walrus have long furnished 
hides, oil, and ivory to the inhabitants of Alaska. 
The quantity of walrus-tusks annually obtained will 
average one hundred thousand pounds. These ani- 
mals are most abundant near Port Moller in Bristol 
Bay, and on the more northern coast and islands. 

The sea-lions are abundant on most of the rocky 
islands. They appear in May, and remain until 
late in the fall. The males often weigh two or 
three tons. Their hide and oil are used for the 
same purpose as those of the walrus, though inferior 
in quality. The whiskers of the sea-hon are as 
large as a quiU, and sometimes fifteen inches long. 



526 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

They are exported to China, the Chinese paying a. 
high price for them. The gall is also disposed of in 
China, being used in the manufacture of silk. 

The immense value and extent of the Alaskan 
fisheries will, doubtless, at an early day be made 
still greater. Fish have always formed the chief 
part of the food of the native population. 

Many casks of duck and geese were annually 
salted down by the Russians. They form a very 
agreeable addition to the winter's fare. The quan- 
tity of game of this kind in Northern Alaska is so 
great, that the time may come when eggs, salted 
birds, eider and swan's down, may occupy some 
space in the commerce of Alaska." 



What a world of wonders is there, in the vast 
region between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and 
our country's northern and southern bounds ! The 
" wonders of the west " are found everj^where 
throughout this magnificent domain; not only in 
the grandeur and sublimity of Nature, but in the 
marvelous achievements of man : of grand old moun- 
tains that rear aloft their snow-crowned crests, even 
to the sky, and in kingly majesty look down upon 
the lightning and the storm-cloud, far below, — 
hstening to the wild music of rolhng thunders, re- 
verberating from chff and crag and distant peak, 
standing in stately grandeur, sole monarch of the 
realm; — to the roar of water-falls, that pour their 
vast volumes of liquid light and rainbow tints and 
pearls, down from dizzy heights, to ya\vning chasms 
and precipitous canons, of depth so profound they 
seem to cut the very earth asunder; prairies of 



AND WONDERS OF THE WEST. 52T 

illimitable expanse, that glitter with the wealth of 
beauteous flowers; meadows clothed with luxuriant 
verdure, over which range countless herds, both 
subject, and free from the control of man; silver 
lakelets with shores of ghttering sand, in placid 
beauty reflecting the sunhght and deep blue of the 
dome of Nature's temple ; gigantic forest trees moss- 
grown and tendril-twined, that have noted the march 
of centuries, whose arms are opened wide to wel- 
come the pioneer of progress ; beautiful rivers, with 
banks fringed with trees and flowers, — all these and 
more are here. Nature's curiosity-shop, her labora- 
tory and her most wondrous works, are open to the 
inspection of those who choose to make it. 

Here, seemingly by magic, spring dehghtful vil- 
lages, which quickly grow to populous cities; here, 
railroads cross mountains and meadows, extend 
through canons and across broad rivers ; and over 
these the iron steed is dashing onward, starthng the 
fleet antelope, and waking echoes in regions, which, 
till now, resounded only with the war-whoop of 
the savage, and the howling of wild beasts; from 
mines, deep in the earth's bosom, glittering trea- 
sure, by milhons, is brought to the hght of day; 
golden wheat fields of boundless area; churches, 
colleges and schools,— all' these are here, and 
thousands of enterprises, achieved or in progress, 
for the general good. 

So rapid the advance of civilization, that he who 
would seek the "wilds of America," will only find 
them in Alaska. Immigrants, by hundreds of thous- 
ands, every year, are hastening to the West to share 
the benefits awaiting them. In the East, and over 



528 LIFE IN THE WILDS OF AMERICA, 

the sea, 'millions of hands want acres,' — here, 'mil- 
hons of acres want hands.' 

More than half our Territories have now the re- 
quisite population for admission to the Union, and 
within five years ensuing, all of them, doubtless, 
will have ; and new stars of great magnitude will 
glitter in our country's constellation; — a country 
upon which the sun never sets. 

Oui* Territory extends through 197 degrees — 
more than half-way round the globe. When the 
sun is bidding our western Aleutian isle 'good-night,' 
he is shedding his rosy beams upon the fields and 
forests of Maine. 

In the growth and prosperity of this country, is 
illustrated the truth of Bishop Simpson's words: — 
"Virtue unites, vice scatters, paganism disperses, 
but Christianity builds up." 

What a glorious land is ours ! Under a wise goV- 
ermental policy, America will continue to prosper 
and brighten with the suns of centuries, till its 
splendor shall illuminate the world. 




